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17th September to 23rd September 2016 Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

David Cameron quits as MP

Rupanjana Dutta

Former premier David Cameron surprised many, quitting as a Conservative MP after 15 years, saying that he does not want his presence on the Conservative backbenches to serve as a ‘distraction’ to British Prime Minister Theresa May. This came two months after he spent watching Theresa May allegedly purging his allies and tying up key policies. It is rumoured that Mrs May had not spoken to Mr Cameron since she took over as the Prime Minister until he called her to say that he could no longer serve as a backbencher.

The 49-year-old former PM had initially said that he was very keen to remain an MP after the UK decided to leave EU, but on Monday he said that he had changed his mind after concluding that he would be ‘a diversion to the

important decisions that lie ahead for my successor’, including on Brexit.

Mr Cameron’s decision to stand down as the Witney (Oxfordshire) MP, with immediate effect triggered a by-election in his constituency, and took Westminster by surprise on Monday, 12 September.

The Times reported it as an alleged warning to his successor, friends said, that Mr Cameron would Continued on page 6

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Rig Veda enters UK House of Lords with newest British Indian Peer The newest Indian-origin member of the British House of Lords, Jitesh Gadhia, has made history by taking his oath of allegiance to the reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth oldest religious scripture II, using the ancient Vedic in continuous use, dating text of the Rig Veda, which back 1500 BC. is considered the world's Continued on page 17

Lucky escape for 'The Tagoreans' as party boat catches fire

Story on page 6

UK Sikhs flay arrest of 55 men protesting inter-faith marriage

Story on page 2

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ONE ONE with Keith Vaz, MP

AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice |17th September 2016

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

to

Shad Hoshyar

Shad Hoshyar is Head of Policy and Public Affairs at Sugarwise, the global kite mark scheme for levels of sugar in food and drink. He liaises with all stakeholders relevant to sugar reduction such as manufacturers, restaurants, and retailers as well as charities and public bodies, focussing on opportunities linked to opening up lower sugar choices. Steering the public debate toward emphasising the importance of improving availability of convenient and easy lower sugar options, and reinforcing Sugarwise’s position as an independent authority for verifying free sugars to governments. Sugarwise provides the only means of analytically determining the level of free sugar in any product without relying on manufacturer supplied composition data, and works with restaurants, cafes and other food and drink retailers to highlight lower sugar options. Shad is a member of Pembroke College, Cambridge, President of the Kurdish Society, and has successfully worked on advocacy and public policy in various UK and EU institutions.

1) What is your current position?

Head of Policy and Public Affairs at Sugarwise, the world’s only kitemark for lower sugar food and drink, and independent certifier of sugar claims. I focus on helping raise stakeholder awareness of the opportunities and options in food and drink low in free sugars. This is such a rewarding position as I genuinely believe that by working together we can do so much to improve the future health of our children.

2) What are your proudest achievements?

When Sugarwise innovated the world’s only scientific technology to differentiate free sugars from overall sugars. It had been tried and tested before, but we finally established a method that was fully verifiable and scalable.

We also broke the story about

free sugars and helped explain to the public why some sugars are associated with more harm to health than others. About 45 million people around the world, from the UK, to Spain to Thailand have learnt about the difference between the different types of sugars through our media outreach.

3) What inspires you?

Seeing opportunities across all parts of society, particularly for disadvantaged groups, inspires me. Individuals from low socioeconomic backgrounds are more likely to experience obesity or be diagnosed with diabetes because they haven’t been given the chance to purchase affordable lower sugar alternatives.

4) What has been the biggest obstacle in your career?

As a result of being evicted from our family home, my mother

8) What are your longterm goals?

Coming from a Kurdish background I know how little notice the Asian community can give to their sugar intake. I want to demonstrate to people, where sugar is part of the cultural symbolism, that there are zero sugar and low sugar alternatives without losing any taste in their beloved Baklava or Gulab Jamun.

and I stayed in a hostel for two months whilst I was studying for my A-Level exams in College.

While it would have been easy for this obstacle to derail me, I stayed focused on my work and was rewarded by getting into Cambridge to study Human, Social and Political Science.

5) Who has been the biggest influence on your career to date?

It’s not surprising from my last answer that I think my mother has been the most influential.

From her courage to flee Kurdistan and walk across Europe to seek asylum in the UK when I was four years old; to her determination I succeed in my education, she has taught me so many invaluable lessons in life.

6) What is the best aspect about your current role?

I always get a sense of pride when witnessing our work manifesting positively in people’s lives. A great number of people, particularly those with health issues, like diabetes, rely on Sugarwise’s certified kite mark to verify sugar claims on products, and on the FoodMaestro app, incorporating the Sugarwise filter, to find products low in free sugars. It’s satisfying knowing we make their decisions easier.

7) And the worst?

The worst aspect of my role is when I realise not enough of the population are aware of the differences between free sugar and overall sugars or that delicious

low free sugar options exist, that they do not have to give up their favourite things and that reducing the amount of added sugars they consume can not only be achievable, but enjoyable and bring huge benefits. It’s not acceptable to me at all that a child born today is expected to live a shorter life than their own parents, for this reason in particular I am motivated to move the debate on sugar toward the importance of making genuinely lower sugar options more available. Free sugars are more dangerous to people’s health than overall sugars and the more people that are aware of this fact and the more lower sugar choices are made available for people to buy the healthier we will all become.

9) If you were Prime Minister, what one aspect would you change?

If I ever have the opportunity to be Prime Minister, I would reward small companies offering customers lower sugar options by mitigating their costs through tax incentives. This will in turn help make healthier products an affordable alternative for everyone.

10) If you were marooned on a desert island, which historical figure would you like to spend your time with and why?

It has to be Nelson Mandela.

Aside from his political brilliance and resilience, his humanity and moral compass during his imprisonment and later freedom are ideals we can all aspire to. Zelda le Grange, Mandela’s Secretary, wrote a wonderful book on how life with Mandela was behind the world stage, he so daringly owned with humility to touch humanity.

UK Sikhs flay arrest of 55 men protesting inter-faith marriage

The arrest of 55 people protesting at a Gurdwara in a row over inter-faith marriages in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, on September 11 has been denounced by British-Sikh groups.

The group of “masked men” carrying weapons (many of which were ceremonial knives) were arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass, Warwickshire Police confirmed.

The incident at Tachbrook Drive began around 6.45am on Sunday and lasted for eight hours.

The Sikh Federation UK (SFUK) has asked Warwickshire Police to apologise for its “disproportionate” response to reports that a group carrying blades and wearing masks had forced their way into Leamington Gurdwara.

The SFUK said the men had entered the Gurdwara to protest an inter-faith marriage being carried out as a Sikh religious ceremony.

Former treasurer Jatinder Singh Birdi said that a marriage between a Sikh and a non-Sikh was to take place when the men staged the protest against the ceremony.

Warwickshire Police were called to the Sikh temple after after 6.45am on Sunday. They sent armed officers as they believed the 55 men were carrying “bladed items”.

Police arrested the 55 men on suspicion of aggravated trespass, seized ceremonial blades and one non-ceremonial weapon.

Superintendent David Gardner said that armed police officers were deployed as a “precaution” due to reports that the pro-

Officers descended on Gurdwara Temple

testers were carrying bladed weapons, which were initially not thought to be ceremonial Kirpans carried

by Sikh men. He confirmed that the incident had been contained and that it was an “escalation of a local dispute”.

Secretary general of the Sikh Council UK, Gurmail Singh, said the protest took place because the marriage ceremony was reserved for two Sikhs, but an interfaith marriage was performed in the Gurdwara.

Gurjeet Singh from the

Sikh Federation UK said that while a Sikh is free to marry a non-Sikh, he does not believe this should be done through a Sikh religious ceremony in a Gurdwara.

The Sikh Federation UK has also accused the Leamington Gurduwara management of providing “false and fabricated information” to the police to get the marriage protesters arrested.

Two groups Sikh 2 Inspire and Sikh Youth UK said they were merely staging a peaceful protest. They claim the wedding violated a consensus in the community to not allow Gurdwaras to host inter-faith marriages.

There have reportedly

been tensions in the community over the last couple of years about permissions being granted to hold inter-faith weddings in the Gurdwara.

The protest and subsequent arrests have reignited a debate among the Sikh community about mixed marriages in Gurdwaras.

The Guardian said it was the third or fourth time in recent months that a group of men had attempted to gain entry into the Gurdwara over the issue of mixed marriages.

The Gurdwara committee’s decision to call the police and the subsequent arrests have sparked sharp reactions on social media.

Some have backed the protests on religious grounds, while others strongly objected to disrupting mixed marriages.

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Nun who gave a city cause to celebrate Not in living memory has Calcutta or Kolkata, as it now called, given itself up to such mass celebration as when Mother Teresa, the Roman Catholic nun who lived, worked and died in the city, was canonized by Pope Francis at a solemn ceremony at the Vatican.

Mother Teresa arrived in Calcutta in 1929 from faraway Macedonia, to teach at a well known educational institution but came to understand that this was not her true calling. With the approval of superior authority she devoted her life to the service of the city’s poor.

In 1950, she set up her order, The Missionaries of Charity, together with a home for the city’s swelling destitute. An explanation of context may help. Bengal had been partitioned in August 1947. East Bengal, with its Muslim majority opted for Pakistan. Political and social conditions, thereafter, for the 35 per cent Hindu population began to deteriorate alarmingly.

The exodus that followed over next decades was biblical; and a city built for a population of two million began to explode with streams of new arrivals at the Sealdah railway station, with little money, few possessions, nowhere to go except the platform and the pavements outside.

The dire situation was made worse when 10 million refugees, desperate to escape from East Pakistan in the summer of 1971, in the wake of the Pakistani military’s genocidal massacres in its Eastern province, walked across the border and sought sanctuary in West Bengal.

Calcutta, once the capital of the raj collapsed into a black hole like no other city in the world. Tourists came to experience hell. It was in the midst of this holocaust that Mother Teresa and her ministering angels of mercy picked up the dying and wretched from the gutters, when passersby simply crossed the street to avoid the awful sight and stench of disease and death. Mother Teresa was a simple woman, her message of charity and care was equally simple, but profoundly deep. She may not have understood the complexities of theoretical physics or of evolution and much else, and never claimed that she did. But volunteers to her hospice, Nirmal Hriday, included doctors,

health workers, engineers, scientists, accountants, all giving a little of their time, and feeling enriched by the experience. The Communist Chief Minister of West Bengal, Jyoti Basu, said that Mother Teresa had taught him the virtue of godliness. When she died in 1997 well over a million people - some from distant parts of India – came to pay homage to a woman who had rescued them and helped broken lives whole again. Recently, a grown man living in the UK and enjoying a successful business career, came to the city to pay homage to her memory, for she had found him as a two-year-old babe lying on the pavement. He was looked after, schooled and put on his feet before being adopted and living a life beyond imagining as a forsaken child.

It is easy to scoff and deride this remarkable and saintly woman. But those who do so often feel fulfilled writing eloquent tracts on poverty, especially Indian poverty, and are content by their self-righteousness and the fat fees they have earned.

The risen Kolkata today is enjoying a rebirth.

Poverty there still is, but the widespread destitution with which it was once association has largely disappeared. It is fast becoming a normal city, with a metro, an improved transport system, bustling markets and a burgeoning middle class. Amid this renewal the citizens of this once impoverished city gave thanks and counted their blessings in having Mother Teresa once among them. The vast majority of Kolkata’s population is Hindu. Remarkably, they embraced Mother Teresa as one of their ennobling own, for love, such as hers, transcends all barriers.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued a moving statement about Mother Teresa’s life and work. An Indian delegation, led by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj attended her canonization. Another delegation from West Bengal, headed by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, were seated in the front row of the ceremony. In a world riven by violence and suffering and bighted by religious discord and ethnic hatreds, the spontaneity of Kolkata’s celebrations cast a luminous, redeeming light.

Keeping Russian ties in focus With all the media hoopla on Obama and the Indo-US relationship, one can be forgiven for thinking that nothing else matter as much in Indian foreign policy. Recall V.P. Menon’s (Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s principal aide) words apropos of the Pakistani-sponsored invasion of vale of Kashmir in October 1947: ‘Srinagar today, Delhi tomorrow. A nation that forgets its history and geography does so at its peril.’ Likewise, not to be forgotten is America’s steadfast support for Pakistan for half a century and the role it played as the surrogate in the US-China containment of India from 1972 to around 2000. (See Donald L. Berlin,’ India in the Indian Ocean,’ (US) Naval War College Review, Spring 2006; also, ‘The Kissinger Transcripts. Whre he encourages China to attack India in 1971’; and Gary Bass’s, ‘The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger the Forgotten Genocide in Bangladesh’) Nations, like individuals, have to move on. It is right that India and the United States are dong precisely that – and pretty successfully, too. But it doesn’t mean that the past can be brushed aside. The Soviet Union enjoyed four decades of an unique, uninterrupted relationship based on trust, goodwill, and the convergence of their national interests. Without Soviet support the fledging Indian Republic would have had a more precarious existence that it did in those uncertain times (See Ashok Parthasathi,’ To Russia with love – As Always,’ Pioneer January 26, 20100). The writer, a Cambridge-educated astrophysicist was Scientific Adviser to the Government for several years and privy to its closest secrets) This ‘time-tested relationship’ has

deepened with the arrival of the Russian Federation, thanks largely to President Vladimir Putin, who placed India in pole position in his foreign policy. The annual Indo-Russian summits and the formation of BRICS owed most to his efforts to adjust Russian policy to the post-Soviet global order.

The success in India’s inter-continental Agni V missile was the result of critical Russian inputs, so was the miniaturized nuclear reactor in Arihant, India’s first nuclear submarine, plus the supersonic BrahMos missile, to quote three instances of Indo- Russian militarytechnological cooperation.

Delhi has reassured Russia that its relationship with India is rock solid and will remain so, whatever the dynamics of Indo-US ties. Defence Ministry sources in Delhi have confirmed the mega defence deals with Russia are works in progress and should be ready for signing when President Putin arrives in the Indian capital for the next Indo-Russian summit in December.

What are they? Agreement on the final stage of the joint development of the Fifth Generation stealth aircraft; India’s acquisition of five S-400 Triumf air defence missile systems; the lease by India of a second Akula II nuclear submarine; and India’s positive response to construct a nuclear aircraft carrier on the lines of the one it is building for itself. These and other top projects were discussed intensively at meetings of the India-Russia Military Technical Cooperation Working Group earlier this month. The India-Russia Indra exercises by their respective armies will take place near Vladivostok from October 2.

India’s space technology scores GSLV launch The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) reached another milestone with the launch of the Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle Satellite, based on cryogenic technology, which can carry the heavier fourtonne load into a stationary 36,000 km orbit.

Cryogenic technology is complex and time-consuming to master. Russia had agreed to pass on the technology to India, but the late President Boris Yeltsin yielded to extreme pressure from the Clinton administration to abort the deal, despite the fact that cryogenic technology had no military applications. President Putin swore

that this would never happen again.

ISRO was forced to design its own cryogenic engines through the inevitable process of trial and error. Ultimately success has been achieved with GSLV-F05 putting INSAT DR, an advanced weather satellite with four payloads, into a precise Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). GSLV-II can lift payloads of 2,500kg, but GSLV-III can lift 4000kg and could make ISRO a major player on the international market at prices more affordable than those offered by the US.

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By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest - Confucius

Religious Offence Hindus should not marry Sikhs in a Sikh Temple.

You should not drink in front of a Muslim. You should not eat pork in front of a Jew, or Muslim.

You should not eat beef in front of a Hindu. Agree?

Disagree? What if your conduct causes me religious offence because of my sincerest beliefs. What if my beliefs are not valid, according to you, but I still hold them, and am offended by you?

This past week armed police surrounded a Sikh temple in which a Hindu was marrying a Sikh. Back in 2010 a problem was reported of the serving of meat and alcohol at various Temple premises around the UK. Let as look at common ground: 1. We can agree that a reasonable person can disagree with another reasonable person.

2. It is reasonable for a Sikh to hold the view that an inter-faith marriage should not happen in a Sikh Temple. It is also reasonable for a Sikh to hold the opposing view.

3. Arguing over religious texts and their factual basis, would not change the views of either set of Sikh groups.

There is law, and there is morality.

Under the law those getting married had broken no law. Those trying to stop them were arrested for ‘causing racially aggravated fear or provocation of violence by words’.

Let’s see what else we can all agree on: a. That civil disobedience is an entrenched part of British political culture b. That breaking the law with provocation of violence is probably outside civil disobedience c. Some of those protestors may well have broken no law on the basis of civil disobedience – certainly a jury will probably think no law was broken.

When it came to same-sex marriage the law states that if the relevant institution agrees and a priest agrees, then it may be conducted. On the basis that a mixed religion marriage is as offensive to Sikhs as same sex marriage to many Christians, the solution may be that where the religious institution agrees and a priest is willing to conduct it, it ought to be permitted.

Those offended would have the right of peaceful protest, and the right to free speech to convince the temple otherwise. They would not have the right to violence or intimidation to support their beliefs.

There is no defence of provocation to assault. The law gives a clue to our cultural values and traditions in the UK.

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Asian Voice |17th September 2016

Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai?

The national airline of China flew into a storm of controversy after its in-flight magazine, warned its readers flying to London to avoid certain ethnic minority areas of the city.

The Wings of China magazine warned its customers that the capital was generally safe, but “precautions are needed when entering areas mainly populated

by Indians, Pakistanis and black people”.

The comments further stated, “We advise tourists not to go out alone at night, and females always to be accompanied by another person when travelling.”

The comments were written in English and Chinese about the various London attractions headlined “Tips from Air China”. The article grabbed the attention of Haze Fan, a Chinese journalist who tweeted a picture to Mayor Sadiq Khan asking him for his opinion.

The ‘tips’ caused outrage among London MPs, including Dr Rosena AllinKhan and Virendra Sharma, who said they were writing to the Chinese ambassador, Liu Xiaoming.

Mr Virendra Sharma, the MP for Ealing Southall said “I am shocked and appalled that even today some people would see it as acceptable to write such blatantly untrue and racist statements. I have invited representatives of Air China to visit my constituency of Ealing

Southall to see that a very multicultural area is safe, and would be of great value for those visiting London to see. I will await their response, and if an appropriate one is not forthcoming I shall feel forced to question whether Air China is a fit company to operate in the UK.” Since the incident last week the publishers of an Air China in-flight magazine have issued an apology, as Chinese media and public back the airline for giving people the ’truth’ about the British capital.

A 'Letter of Apology' from Air China Media Group, the publisher of Wings of China admitted the article ‘caused misunderstanding’. “(It) created a huge negative influence to the operation, image and reputation of Air China. We express our deep apology for this. Air China has withdrawn the magazine on all flights after noticing the problem, and demanded the magazine’s publishing house learn lessons and avoid similar problems from happening again," it said.

While the Air China Media Group issued an apology, China's state-run media defended the racist tip about Indians, Pakistanis and black people in London, saying that the airline had got its facts right, but had just presented them inappropriately.

Articles in the staterun Global Times accused the British of opportunism in highlighting the Air China issue.

In an update to the scandal, London Assembly Member Navin Shah has written to the Chinese Ambassador, Liu Xiaoming, extending an invitation to visit Brent and Harrow to demonstrate that they are safe and vibrant places to visit for Chinese tourists. He has also written to Air China requesting a corrective article in the next issue of the magazine, which would actively promote diverse parts of London, like Brent and Harrow, to Chinese tourists.

Mr Navin Shah AM, said: “I am sure that the hurtful and offensive comments in the magazine do not represent the views of the Chinese Government or people, and I am sure the Chinese community here will be horrified by this story. I have invited the Ambassador in order to demonstrate that we are warm, friendly and welcoming people, and there is nothing to fear.”

Man gets court order after killing father and stabbing children at family home in Bethnal Green A man who killed his father and stabbed his two-year-old baby nephew and 11-year-old niece after a family meal at their home in London’s East End has been sentenced to a mental hospital detention order without time limit.

Suluk Ahmed, 32, pictured, was found guilty at the Old Bailey of involuntary manslaughter on grounds of

diminished responsibility.

He had been struggling with mental health in the months leading up to the killing in Bethnal Green on a summer’s evening last year.

An ambulance crew answering a 999 call from his 13-year-old nephew arrived at a house at the end of Huddleston Close, a culde-sac off Parmiter Street,

found the 79-year-old grandfather dying and his two grandchildren bleeding—all from knife wounds.

Police were called and Ahmed was arrested as the children were being treated by paramedics in the house before being taken to hospital with their grandfather.

Ahmed had been at the family home for a meal with

his parents, two sisters and young niece and nephews, the court heard.

Sunderland’s Stadium of Light to host Diwali celebration Sunderland’s Stadium of Light will welcome the Festival of Lights this autumn when it hosts its first Diwali celebration. The colourful event will bring a feast of entertainment and great food to the city in a party atmosphere which will also raise money for SAFC’s charity the Foundation of Light.

The event is the brainchild of Sunderland businessman Umesh Patel MBE DL, who wants to make this the biggest Diwali event the city has ever seen.

“I am very excited to be staging a Diwali festival of this size here in Sunderland, and where better to celebrate the Festival of Lights than at the Stadium of Light?,” he said.

“We’ve been working closely with the Stadium of Light to look at how we can stage the best event possible and we have lined up what we

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The British Asian Trust, launches ‘Give a Girl a Future’ appeal at exclusive fashion event

‘Rise On The Runway’ featured prominent fashion brands Raishma and Lucy Choi London, with acid attack survivors Laxmi and Adele gracing the catwalk.

The British Asian Trust, the UK’s leading organisation for British Asian philanthropy, launched it’s first public appeal, Give a Girl a Future at an exclusive pre-London Fashion Week fashion event this Monday. Held at London’s Waldorf Hilton, ‘Rise On The Runway’, in partnership with the GMSP Foundation, saw collections showcased by leading designers Raishma and Lucy Choi London.

Television and Heart FM radio presenter Jenni Falconer hosted the evening, which was graced by acid attack survivors Laxmi and Adele, who inspired the room with an appearance on the catwalk. British Asian Trust ambassador Laila Rouass, British singer Sonique and ex-West Indian cricketer Carlos Braithwaite also attended.

It is the first event the British Asian Trust has taken part in since launching its appeal on September 7th. The funds raised from the event will be donated to the Trust’s Give a Girl a Future appeal, with every £1 donated matched by the UK Government.

During the event, the British Asian Trust launched it’s first appeal video for Give a Girl a Future, featuring chart topping music producer Naughty Boy, British TV stars Anita Rani and Sanjeev Bhaskar, Bollywood icon Anil Kapoor and British actor Ray Panthaki https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dbQoBR Giq8

PM urged to rethink refugee policy by 200 religious leaders

Umesh Patel

believe will be a fantastic event.

“Diwali is a very important date on the Hindu calendar and we are going to create the perfect celebration night here in Sunderland in what we hope will become an annual event for the city.”

Guests will be treated to colourful entertainment by Bollywood dancers and then get the chance to hit the dancefloor themselves with

an Indian Bollywood DJ. There will also be a Henna Corner for the ladies and a fireworks display. For foodies there will be a Chaat counter, street food carts and a Grand Diwali buffet set to feature everything from curries and

rice dishes to salads and poppadums.

A packed dessert bar will open after the main buffet has ended, offering an array of tasty sweet treats. There will also be a selection of delicious Diwali drinks on offer.

A former Archbishop of Canterbury joined more than 200 religious leaders to call on Prime Minister Theresa May to do more to help refugees fleeing Syria, Iraq and other warzones.

Lord Dr Rowan Williams delivered a keynote speech on Monday as leaders of Britain's major faiths criticise the Government's response to the refugee crisis as "too slow, too low and too narrow".

Last week, the Government announced it had secured enough local authority places to meet its pledge to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees over the next four years. And in a major U-turn earlier this year former PM David Cameron committed to accepting 3,000 unaccompanied children registered in France, Italy and Greece.

But the Christian, Muslim and Jewish clerics, alongside lead representatives of other faiths, signed an open letter urging Mrs May to unblock rules preventing refugee families being reunited in the UK.

www.asian-voice.com Asian Voice | 17th September 2016 AsianVoiceNews

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Lord Dolar Popat

of Harrow, Government Whip and Lord-in-Waiting with responsibilities for Business and Transport

David Cameron: the great friend of the British Indian Community David Cameron’s resignation on Monday as the Member of Parliament for Witney brings to an end one of the finest political careers of the modern age.

Since first being elected in June 2001, David Cameron reformed the Conservative Party as Leader of the Opposition, oversaw the fallout of the financial crisis whilst leading Britain’s first peacetime Coalition Government in decades as Prime Minister, and then – against all the odds – returned a Conservative majority Government in the 2015 General Election.

There were battles from all sides. The Independence movement in Scotland; the Eurosceptic right wanted to leave the European Union; the Liberal Democrats and their constitutional referendums.

In the 24 hour media cycle, it is exhausting for any politician to try and always come out on top; all in the end get defeated.

But David Cameron was by far the best that we’ve had in a long time.

On a personal level, I am incredibly sad that we’re losing him from the House of Commons.

David has been a friend for many years and he has proved himself to be a brilliant leader, both for the Party I support but also for the country that I love. I have no doubt that the people of Witney will miss him tremendously as well.

But it is also worth keeping in mind how much of a friend to the British Indian community David Cameron has been. During his time as leader, support for the Conservatives from within the community has gone from levels around 10% in 2005 to, by all accounts, over 50% in last year’s General Election.

When he became leader of the opposition in 2005, David Cameron knew that the Conservatives had to reach out beyond their core support. He wanted to build a party that reflected Britain in the 21st Century, and British Indians were to be an essential part of that.

He has engaged with

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Lord Dolar Popat with David Cameron

our community in a way no other leading Conservative has. As both the leader of the opposition and as Prime Minister, he’s regularly visited temples and community centres across the country. He introduced annual Diwali and Vaisakhi receptions in Downing Street, and in 2010 he attended Morari Bapu’s Ram Katha at Wembley Arena, in front of 10,000 people.

In 2012 he made the decision that the Conservative Party still wasn’t doing enough to engage with British Indians, and asked for the Conservative Friends of India to be formed. I was honoured to be asked to be the founding Chairman of that organisation; and will never forget the launch, with the Prime Minister talking to 1,200 British Indians about our shared future.

He put a special emphasis on building relations with India, and asked the British Indian Diaspora to play a big role in that. We saw the fruits of his diplomatic efforts when all those people crammed into Wembley Stadium last year to hear Cameron introduce Narendra Modi.

A constant reminder of Cameron’s diplomatic emphasis stands in Westminster Square: the statue of Gandhi.

Through her right-tobuy policy, economic reforms and by virtue of holding the Finchley constituency, Margaret Thatcher was well-liked

by many British Indians.

But she never reached the levels of support David Cameron has; the receptions he received were bordering on ‘rockstar’ status.

He made many British Indians look at the Conservatives in a new light. Here was a man who seemed to want what we wanted; sound economic policies, good schools, a confident nation and a more liberal approach to social issues.

It was a potent combination; and when added to his natural leadership and his fantastic communication skills, made him the greatest politician of his generation.

The Conservative Party is now home to dozens of politicians from BME backgrounds, including many British Indians. It is the Party that brought in same-sex marriage; that ensured 0.7% of our GNI is spent on foreign aid to help those less fortunate than ourselves; the Party that took us from the instability of the banking crisis to a booming economy.

David Cameron has been a terrific force for good for the Conservative Party and for Great Britain. He has reshaped our politics and will go down in the history books as one of our greatest leaders.

I hope the British Indian community continues to remember all he did for us, and that Cameron finds a new role that utilises his undoubted talents.

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Keith is a good person, I will forgive him, says wife Maria Maria Fernandes, the wife of the scandal-hit Labour MP Keith Vaz, has said she will stand by her husband after he begged for her forgiveness and promised it would “never happen again”.

She told The Mail on Sunday: “It was a terrible shock and I am still processing it. Keith is not a bad person, he's just done a terrible thing. It's absolutely terrible because it's affected all of us, because it's affected the kids. But he's a good person, a good father, he's been a good husband and nine-tenths of the time he's got the things right. This time he's fallen... badly.”

The mother-of-two said she never suspected he was sexually attracted to men, but that what hurt was the betrayal. “I've decided to forgive him. That's different to forgiving him right now. If I don't forgive him eventually, it is going to tear me up. It's going to destroy me and I don't want that.”

The couple have a 21year-old son and a 19-yearold daughter.

Maria said she was also worried about Vaz. “He wanted to kill himself twice – once as Europe minister (when he was caught up in a scandal over passports) – and again now. He just wanted to die.”

Meanwhile, the scandal involving the disgraced MP is getting murkier with every passing day as police are considering new allegations of potential abuse of office and misconduct against the beleaguered Leicester lawmaker.

Vaz has now been accused of trying to stop a council evicting a brothel owner in Leicester 25 years ago. Detectives have interviewed witnesses in this regard.

H o w e v e r , Leicestershire police have refused to comment on whether the embattled MP

Maria Fernandes and Keith Vaz, outside their family home

was under investigation.

Vaz quit as chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee last week after he was caught with two gay escorts at a flat he owns in Edgware, north-west London. A Sunday Mirror report said he paid for the services of male sex workers.

However, Scotland Yard has confirmed it is considering whether he committed any offences in his involvement with two male prostitutes in London. He is not under formal investigation but police said they would “assess and identify what criminal offences – if any – may have been committed”.

In the undercover footage, revealed in the Sunday Mirror, Vaz was seen having a conversation with one of the male escorts in which the MP said he did not want to use cocaine himself, but indicated he would be willing to pay for it for use by another prostitute at a later date.

Inquiries about his conduct in Leicester predate those revelations and involve claims he may have abused his public office when he attempted to overturn the 1991 eviction of a council tenant for unpaid rent.

The tenant, Nigel Philpot-Jones, was suspected of running a brothel and providing “the services of young men for other men”, according to a witness statement seen by the Sunday Times.

Also, it has been alleged that Vaz had offered a job as a driver to one of the male prostitutes he was filmed with. The unnamed man told the Sunday Mirror: “He texted me and said he wanted someone to work as a driver for three days at the weekend, then for any other days for a charity. I was interested in taking the job. I was hoping the job would go through and I'd earn good, genuine money.”

Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen wrote to police saying: “The report and associated video suggest a conspiracy to supply a controlled substance.”

Scotland Yard said that it would examine whether Vaz had committed any criminal offences.

Interestingly, according to the Daily Telegraph, “It is not clear what laws, if any, Vaz is alleged to have broken. Prostitution in itself is legal in the UK while his offer to pay for cocaine that was never bought or consumed seems a long way from a criminal offence.”

Continued from page 1 make a defence of his education legacy – especially free schools programme – a priority outside the Parliament. With full intention to support Mrs May (59) and her strong leadership in the future, he denied that the current PM’s re-introduction of Grammar school was the last straw for his decision, but made clear that he wanted to have the freedom to air his own view. Mrs May allegedly tried to distance herself from the ‘old Etonians’ such as Mr Cameron, pledging to end the era of ‘the priviledged few’.

It is believed that Mr Cameron had consulted former Tory PM Sir John Major and a few others before making up his mind over this summer. He will now concentrate on finishing a memoir for publication in 2017 and is likely to join the lecture circuit, perhaps make some more money (it however may not be as much as the £80-odd million of former Labour PM Tony Blair). Besides free schools, he may also be seen focussing on international aid and tackling corruption as he plans to remain in public life. He reportedly told his friends that he wanted to avoid following the example of Sir Edward Heath, a persistent backbench critic of Margaret Thatcher or the Labour MP Tony Blair after he left Downing Street.

Indians lose a friend

Lucky escape for 'The Tagoreans' as party boat catches fire

The British Indian community members cannot deny that it was David Cameron who won their allegiance and enticed them to vote for the Conservative party after being Labour supporters for years. Even the first generation Brit-Indians witnessed David Cameron’s determination to win them over and Mr Cameron called himself ‘Britain’s first Asian Prime Minister’ in a jest, during an exclusive one-to-one interview with Asian Voice, just before 2015 General Elections.

He regularly visited temples and community centres across the country, he introduced annual Diwali and Vaisakhi receptions at 10 Downing Street, that were attended by com-

dren were heard crying.

A spokesperson for the Tagoreans said, "It was quite a shock as towards the end of the three-hour cruise two of the engines caught fire. We could see smoke billowing at the back of the boat, which was coming inside. There was a bit of panic but all the passengers remained surprisingly calm.

"The emergency services were at scene promptly, including a police helicopter and paramedics.

Thankfully, there were only

some minor injuries."

The company which owns the boat has since apologised to the group and said a "full investigation" is underway. The spokesperson added, "We wait to hear back from them. It is a relief as things could have been much worse. We had an enjoyable afternoon of Rabindra Sangeet and fun and games until then.”

No serious injuries were reported among the 142 passengers and nine crew members on board

On a crispy sunny Sunday (11 September), The Tagoreans, one of the UK's oldest cultural organisations established in London since 1965, was celebrating its golden jubilee on River Thames.

Promoted as a trip on the 'Sonar Tori' (the golden boat), an entertaining, relaxed and fun filled lunch cruise on the Thames - a great day out for the family, was spoiled as it caught fire in the engine room and crashed into the Canary Wharf pier.

More than 150 people, mostly Indian-origin Bengalis, including young children and disabled members had a lucky escape. Locals living by the river witnessed police boats rushing to the accident spot, soon after the boat crashed by the pier.

Passersby cycling and walking near Westferry circus and Thames Path, were also seen recording the incident on cameras, while passengers on board looked visibly shocked by the crash and fire, and chil-

Bye Dave!

AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice |17th September 2016

munity leaders, and in 2010 he attended Morari Bapu’s Ram Katha at Wembley Arena. During Diwali he even visited the Swaminarayan temple, with his wife Samantha, who looked gorgeous in a beautiful red saree.

AsianVoiceNewsweekly opinion polls predict that the Conservatives would hold 349 seats in the House of Commons, while Labour would have just 176, the first time the party would have fewer than 200 MPs since the 1920s and Mr Corbyn has just a six per cent chance of winning the 2020 elections, with an

Samantha Cameron and former PM David Cameron with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Wembley Stadium during his UK visit in 2015

Mr Cameron had put a special emphasis on building relations with India, and asked the British Indian Diaspora to play a big role in that, leading to the formation of Conservative Friends of India.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the UK during his tenure and also Westminster square witnessed erection of a new Mahatma statue of Gandhi. Mr Cameron even appointed Priti Patel MP as the first ever Indian diaspora Champion, to ensure the relationship with India and Indians flourished. He made 3 official visits to India (in July 2010, February 2013 and November 2013), much more than any other prime ministers of the UK.

According to an analysis by Martin Bexter of Electoral Calculus, the Telegraph reported that Theresa May looks set to win the 2020 election with a majority of 100 seats, leaving Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour trailing under 200 MPs, according to the new analysis of the boundary changes.

However it is not clear if the Indian population would support Theresa May. Ever since her election, the community has not had any particular interaction with the new PM. The review and current

outright majority compared to Mrs May’s 76 per cent chance.

With boundary changes being proposed to reduce the number of MPs from 650 to 600 and to more evenly distribute the number of voters in each constituency, Labour has signalled it will fight the “unfair, undemocratic and unacceptable” changes, stressing they are based on an ‘out of date” version of the electoral register based on populations recorded in the electoral roll for 2015 and missing two million voters who signed up to vote in the EU referendum.

Labour’s Sadiq Khan warned the party leadership not to use the review to get rid of opponents. The London Mayor reportedly said: “What this shouldn’t be used as an excuse for is either from the Conservative Government to reduce the number of Labour MPs or by the Labour leadership, and I’m sure they wouldn’t, to get rid of unpopular Labour MPs.” Mr Khan said the case load of a London MP is “humongous”.

He added: “I think the Government is making a big mistake reducing the number of Labour MPs in London.

“At the same time they are increasing the number of unelected peers in the House of Lords as a reward for sucking up to the previous Prime Minister.”

and the pier was closed briefly before being reopened. The fire was put out before firefighters arrived at the scene and passengers and crew were taken off the ship and into two other boats on the river.

In a statement London Fire Brigade told the PTI, "Firefighters and officers were called to a small engine fire on a tour boat in the Thames... The fire was extinguished before the Brigade arrived.

“Crews checked the

boat for safety and ensured that the fire was out. Eight fire engines and the fireboat attended the incident from stations including New Cross, Greenwich, Millwall and Shadwell."

The Port of London Authority said the boat is currently "safe and secure" by the river bank with its anchor dropped and will be towed away in due course.

Transport for London's river services from Canary Wharf were suspended on Sunday as a result of the incident.

Theresa May – to win 2020 election with majority?

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Asian Voice | 17th September 2016

Huge potential for India-UK collaboration in Food retail and e-commerce, says India’s Food Processing Minister

On 19th of June 2016, Nishma and Visesh Gosrani saw the arrival of their son Yuvraj Gosrani. To celebrate the occasion, the family hosted a star studded party on the 27th of August at the Bombay Brasserie, London. The celebration was attended by CB Patel, Publisher Editor, Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar; Rami Ranger CBE, Lopa Patel MBE, Lord Jitesh Gadhia and many others.

Nishma has won a number of prestigious awards including the Asian Achievers Awards. A Director at Deloitte, she was described as a 'mover and shaker' by the Sunday times. Visesh Gosrani FIA was formerly CRO of Asta Management - Lloyds of London and is now MD at Cygnus Risk and Actuarial.

Smt Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Minister of Food Processing, Government of India, discussed opportunities in India in the food processing sector on 6 Sept in London. UK-based food manufacturers and retailers including Sainsbury's, Diageo, Holland and Barrett, Indo-European Foods participated in the roundtable. Several large companies including Sainsbury's, Tesco, Marks and Spencer, McCormick held private interactions as well

Mrs Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Hon’ble Minister of Food Processing, Government of India was on an official visit to the UK from 6 – 8 September for inviting investment and exploring opportunities for collaboration between Indian and UK companies in food processing, food technology and retail industries.

During the 3-day visit, the Minister interacted with top food companies in the UK, apprising them of the huge business potential in India’s food processing sector. The minister was accompanied by Mr J P Meena, Special Secretary, Ministry of Food Processing industries, Government of India; Mr Hardeep Singh, PS to Minister of Food Processing, Government of India and Mr Piruz Khambatta, Co-Chairman, CII National Committee on Food Processing Industries & Chairman & Managing Director, Rasna Private Limited.

High Commission of India in UK and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) organized a private roundtable in London with the Hon’ble Minister on “Food Processing in India: C o l l a b o r a t i v e Opportunities” bringing together nearly 20 renowned UK based companies in the food sector.

The participants included large retailers, specialty foods, e-retailers and beverage manufacturers.

Senior representatives from Sainsbury, Holland & Barret, Diageo, Ty-Phoo Tea, British Agri Food Consortium, Food and Drink Federation, Whittard of Chelsea, and Food and Drink Exporters Association participated in the roundtable among others.

In addition, the Hon’ble Minister also had one to one meetings with senior leadership of Sainsbury PLC, Tesco PLC and Marks & Spencer PLC as well as Partridges,

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McCormick & Company, Waitrose, Holland and Barrett International, Morrisons and Harrods to discuss current and future trade and investment prospects into India.

Reiterating the need for enhanced cooperation between India and UK in the sector, Mrs Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Minister of Food Processing, Government of India said, “With increasing disposable income and changing consumer preferences in India, retail and e-commerce are booming in the food segment and this is where the opportunity lies.

Over the past two years the Government of India has taken a number of policy decisions to spur vibrant growth in the food processing segment. With such a progressive policy outlook, we will offer full support towards new collaborations and greater investment.”

The Government of India has recently allowed 100% FDI through FIPB route in marketing of food products produced and manufactured in India.

This path-breaking initiative has opened up vast opportunities for international companies to invest in India in the food processing supply and marketing chain. Additionally, attractive incentives have been established by central and state governments to include capital subsidies, tax rebates, and reduced custom and excise duties. Increasing focus is also being given to supplychain related infrastructure, such as cold storage, abattoirs and food parks.

Speaking at the interactive session H. E. Mr. Navtej Sarna, Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom said “UK is the 3rd largest investor in India, highest in G-20 countries. Of the total UK FDI in India around 3 billion dollars is in the food processing sector. India is

doing well amongst world economies and is an attractive destination for FDI. What is required is closer interaction between Indian and UK food & beverage sector to strengthen business.”

Applauding the progressive changes to enhance growth in India’s food processing industry, Mr Piruz Khambatta, Cochairman of the CII National Committee on Food processing Industry and Chairman & Managing Director, Rasna Pvt Ltd said, “The Government’s decision to permit 100% FDI under government approval route for trading, including through e-commerce, in respect of food products manufactured or produced in India will provide a major impetus to investments, employment and job creation in the Food processing industry. This policy announcement is aligned with the Government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative facilitating ‘Ease of doing business’ and through CII, we hope to support the Government in taking these positive messages to key global markets such as the UK, and invite international business collaboration.

UK food companies expressed interest in doing business in Indian during the interaction with the Hon’ble Minister of Food Processing, Government of India.

Mrs Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Hon’ble Minister of Food Processing, Government of India invited the participating companies to visit India from 11 – 13 January 2017 and meet the Indian food & retail industry during the ‘Food Summit’ being organized by the Ministry of Food Processing, Government of India on the side lines of ‘Vibrant Gujarat Summit’ in Gujarat.

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Yuvraj Gosrani

Nishma Gosrani (mum) holding baby Yuvraj, with Prinal Nathwani from City Hindus Network, Lord Jitesh Gadhia and Lopa Patel MBE

Murder investigation hampered due to DNA refusal and rewritten notes Dozens of women are refusing to give DNA samples which would rule them out of potentially crucial evidence in the Stephen Lawrence pictured, murder investigation. Detectives investigating the murder say they have DNA of a woman on a handbag strap, close to the place where Stephen was murdered.

In a fresh appeal on BBC’s Crimewatch programme police made the revelation though they didn't disclose the significance of the thin black leather strap. The strap in question was rediscovered two years ago by police in one of the 150 crates of evidence they have on the murder.

Detectives have spoken to over 110 people about the black strap and 50 of them agreed to give DNA samples, 46 have refused, while 12 failed to respond to police requests.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said “Having reviewed police statements, and re-interviewed witnesses from the initial inquiry, offi-

cers now believe that the strap may be of significance to the investigation.”

It also turns out due to a misreading of a report, the police did not realise of 20 years the importance of the black leather strap. The police notes, documents the strap being found 300 feet from the scene of the attack. However, police discovered the strap was found just 15 feet away from the poll of Stephen’s blood and 26 feet from his bag. Officers suspect the strap is part of the weapon used to fatally injure the student.

Stephen Lawrence, an A-Level student, was stabbed twice in Eltham, south east London in 1993 as he waited for a bus.

UK Asian Voice | 17th September 2016

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

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Rani Singh, Special Assignments Editor

Flying High, RAF Officer Flt Lt Khan Flt Lt Amir Khan SB O StJ, BA(Hons), Dip Mgt, is a Medical and Dental Liaison Officer with the RAF. He is also actively involved in Black Asian Minority Ethnic Group engagement.

ries.

Outside the familial environment was a

Highly decorated, he has served with dedication. He has come a long way since he first joined the RAF in 1986 as a Medical Assistant. Where did it all begin?

favourite teacher. I w o n ’ t n a m e her, but this lady c a r e d .

Though a younger teacher, she h e l p e d

Starting Guns Amir Khan was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire.

Both parents are from SWAT, in the North West frontier of Pakistan. His father settled in the UK in the 1950s, with his mother joining him later, in the 1960s.

The RAF officer feels his most influential pillars were his religion and parents. “My Father was a strong and influential figure as I was growing up.

The importance of families was always at the forefront of any memo-

Flt Lt Amir Khan

improve my grades and more importantly, my outlook on life. She made a difference.”

Defence in Family “My father spent many years in the Royal Navy, and was enlisted in the then Greater India. I remember his stories and adventures, or what seemed like adventures. I now realise there are challenges like there are in every job.

ence and difficult to put His stories planted a seed into words, simply, somevery early, as it is someone switching the light thing I have always wanton, on life.” ed to do. When I turned After completing 18 I convinced my older training, his first posting brother and father that was RAF Coltishall where the best way forward for he was employed me was to enlist in the in the Regional Royal Air Force. My M e d i c a l ace card was that I Centre. On would complete motion my degree whilst Religion and ptor oCorporal, in the RAF, which I did. he was culture have The episode posted to always played R A F makes me laugh now, Hospital a big part in however it was Wroughton successful, o n my life because 30 years Aeromedical later I am still duties. doing the job I As a Junior love.”

N o n Amir loves the Commissioned diversity of his role. “Over Officer Medical Stores the last few years, I have and Squadron Medic, he been an Operations manwas posted to RAF ager in Primary Health Odiham. In 1998, Khan Care looking after the was awarded his second resources for 27 Medical Air Officers facilities in one of the 10 Commendation. regions of the Kent Biggest Challenge Primary Health care regions. My recent assignment has been in recruit“Religion and culture ing, mainly, doctors, denhave always played a big tists and physiotherapists part in my life, and therefor the Royal Air Force. I fore this was a challenge have also been involved in in the early days, as the civil engagement.” environment of the Royal Air Force was alien to me, Turning Point as I am sure I was to it.

Initially, I adapted to “Meeting my wife and the environment and kept having two beautiful boys, to my faith. Recently well my wife did all the things have become much hard work. This is a turneasier people are aware of ing point as a life expericultural differences, and

9

forums are set up by the RAF, for example, Gender, LGBT and the Black Asian Minority Ethnic Group, (BAME) all help to educate and advise where necessary. We must all work towards an equal and diverse environment and assist where necessary to help the generation behind us; otherwise I feel we are failing our children, nieces and nephews.”

During his tour he was employed as an Instructor and part of a Course Design team.

Khan returned to RAF Coltishall in 2001 as Deputy Practice Manager.

Promoted to Flight Sergeant, he was posted to RAF Odiham as Practice Manager. In 2005, Khan was awarded the Order of St John and the Joint C o m m a n d e r s Commendation in 2008.

In Jan 2010, Flt Lt Khan was commissioned into the Medical Support Officers branch. He was then assigned into the role of Adjutant, a newly established role, at the Ministry Of Defence Hospital Unit Peterborough.

He’s also served on operations in Iraq, Bosnia, Turkey, and Afghanistan. His work included delivering humanitarian medical aid to the soldiers and to local populations.

10

READERS’ VOICE

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 17th September 2016

GPs to encourage patients to go private According to national newspapers, GPs are asking patients whether they have private medical insurance (PMI) and encouraging them to use it, go private to save NHS millions, as most CCG (Care Commissioning Group) are under immense pressure to save money, not to go in red.

Some OAPs may join PMI scheme, out of guilt, even though it may be too expensive, as unlike in USA, where MI premiums do not go up with age, here MI double as we reach retirement age and use MI more often than young people.

So it is in the interest of the MI providers for us to leave when premiums become too expensive. This is in sharp contrast to BMA's policy that all patients irrespective of their age, have absolute right to use NHS without feeling guilty.

This is indeed a sad reflection on our bleeding heart politicians who care more and give away billions in overseas aid when our own people go hungry, live in overcrowded accommodations and suffer in silence.

Kumudini Valambia By email

Audit of inequality

P.M. Mrs. May ordered an extensive analysis of public sector data to reveal how race affects the treatment of Britons by the Government Departments. The initial objective is to identify and eliminate the factors holding back the white working class and the ethnic minorities.

The examples of disparity show black people are seven times more likely to be the target of ‘stop and search’ by the police and children from the white working class community are less likely to go to universities. The African Caribbean children are three times more likely to be excluded from the school permanently.

Mrs. May expressed that the government she will lead will stand up against injustice and inequality. The audit will reveal the racial disparity stretching across public services and provide the information how race, geographical location and gender relates e.g. hospital waiting list or university admission. Though the effect of ‘haves and have not’ of course, is well known. In addition family and cultural values, children feeling ‘belong’ play significant role as shown by Indian community. Following Brexit she has united the divided party, the government and hope will unite the people to make all round progress for Britain.

Ila Kapadia By email

Unsavoury allegations

How sad that a prominent public figure like hardworking Leicester East MP Keith Vaz should be the focus of unsavoury allegations which triggered his decision to step down as Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, a role he performed with distinction and flair.

He has also been a popular columnist on this newspaper for several years, interviewing interesting people every week.

Let us hope everything works out well for this icon of the Asian community.

Rudy Otter By email

What do you think?

We want to know your views on this subject Write to: Asian Voice, 12 Hoxton Market London N1 6HW or e-mail: aveditorial@abplgroup.com

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Pakistan

Sooner or later Pakistan will break up due to its internal tensions. If any split component then applies to join India, India should be very careful before accepting.

The demography of India would change substantially. Cohesion of India and its democratic setup has survived because of Hindu tolerance. This cohesion and democracy may not survive if there is a significant change in its demography.

SK Shah By email

Middle East

I think the Philipino President is against the American Imperialist attitude not against the president of the US (Obama).

Because the west especially the America indeed have created a very unhealthy and unpleasant environment in the Middle East and across the globe, by refusing to becoming the puppet or poodle of America and it's cronies.

Now the US will create all kinds of problems for the newly elected President of the Philippine for not being a "YES " man for America: - #1fact economic sanctions etc like Russia and others.

- #2fact,the politics is becoming more dirty in US/UK/EUROPE and across the globe because of the west "Divide & Rule" IDOIOLGY ".

- #3fact, South Korea vs North Korea, Philippine, Vietnam, India, Pakistan and others.

How can we expect peace when the west is creating hatred and violence and selling weapons to the Saudi's and others and creating insecurity,and more instability across the globe?

Yam Gurung (Rtd) By email

May to launch new generation of grammar schools

I refer to your article in AV of 13th August on page 11 where you state that Teresa May is planning to launch a new generation of (government funded ) grammar schools and lift a ban on them introduced by Labour in 1998.

Since Labour introduced the ban, the standard as gone down. In 2014, the OECD report on school performance league tables among 65 most advanced countries found that UK had fallen behind: In Science, from 4th to 14th. In Literacy from 7th to 17th.

In Numeracy, from 8th to 24th. This was between 2000 and 2006. By 2010, in Literacy, UK performance fell further to 25th; and in Numeracy to 26th.

If there are currently 3,000 state secondary schools in England, and only 163 grammar schools, that number should be increased to 1,200 grammar schools.

Why? The pupils can be divided at age 11 into five levels of ability: outstanding, above average, average, below average and poor, probably spread equally. Those who are outstanding and above average represent about 40% of the student population.

They have been denied faster academic progress by being forced to study in comprehensive schools for almost 20 years by now.

Nagindas Khajuria By email

Canonisation of Mother Teresa

I refer to the recent letters in Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar by Jayesh A Patel regarding Mother Teresa. His bitterness towards her is unjustifiable. Gandhi got India independence and did not live long after that to make any impact on the country.

Nehru “ruled” the country for God knows how many years but his legacy is seen every where in India and that is poverty. Nehru’s biggest legacy is Nehru Dynasty to rule India. Nobel prizes are awarded by a committee who has to be satisfied with the cause and reward. With regard £75million collected by Mother Teresa she did not give in a palatial home or lead a life of luxury which was Nehru Dynasty has done.

Subhash Patel St Albans

Great Meritocricy

In a radical controversial plan, the Prime Minister Theresa May, has called for an end to the ban on the provision of new grammar schools saying that she wanted to improve the life chances for children from ordinary backgrounds. In a major shake up of the education system. She has set aside some £56 million for existing grammar schools to expand. She said that grammar schools open more opportunity for more people. A place in a grammar school will be rewarding ability.

This is most welcome news for us Asians, whose children want to study for better educational qualifications to get on in life. We know that to get a better standard of living, our children must become better qualified than the rest, and those who cannot afford to send their children to expensive private schools, which charge upwards of £10,000 per annum per child, grammar schools are the second best option to a lucrative future career in medicine, law or accountancy or even in politics.

We know that in a society where, even in the present day and age, overt and covert discrimination is still to be encountered, the colour of ones skin determines who gets a better paid job. Because we cannot change the colour of our skin, the best way to a prosperous future must be through better education. We cannot change the way we look but we certainly can become better than others through the medium of higher academic qualifications.

Dinesh Sheth Newbury Park, Ilford

Sainthood for Mother Teresa

Amazingly, Jayesh criticized Saint Teresa. After training as a missionary, she could have opted to stay and serve her mother country, but instead came to India. She accomplished her role successfully. In doing so, she cared, tended, offering dignity to sick/ dying of Calcutta. She deserves our sincere praise and appreciation. Saint Teresa did not expect poor folks to come to her, but she went out to them, thus deserves to be a Saint.

To compare, Hindu God men perform the preaching part but without soiling their hands with person dying in gutter. Hindu god men expect their devotees to fly with them in a plane or accompany on cruise of Mediterranean. Faults attributed to Saint Teresa arise from her low education and basic training that armed her with spiritual resource. She, therefore resorted to charisma, prayer and pain killer.

As to image of India, please consider: after 70 years of independence from British rule, a Prime Minister have to sweep dirty streets to educate public: lack of toilets and deplorable public sanitation is known globally. Until Hindu religious or philanthropic humanism reaches every Indian, India will and still need army of Modiji, godmen and saints like Teresa.

Ramesh Jhalla By email

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/COUNCIL Asian Voice | 17th September 2016

EDUCATION

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

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Unis to hide applicants' names in anti-bias trial Universities are going to test "name-blind" admissions for the first time to stop potential discrimination based on assumptions about students' names.

Exeter, Huddersfield, Liverpool and Winchester will pilot a system this year where the names of applicants are not seen during admissions. The aim is to stop "potential bias" about students' race and identity.

Universities Minister Jo Johnson said he backed attempts to "stamp out inequality" in higher education.

The pilot project aims

to see if masking the names of applicants will remove any "unconscious bias".

Without identifying names, applications would be considered without

It’s time to talk about extremism Extremism, in all its forms, will be discussed in Brent Civic Centre at a Question Time style event this Autumn. Taking place on Monday 3 October, the event is part of the Council's wider 'It's Time to Talk' campaign which aims to empower the community to talk about difficult issues and work together to develop grassroots strategies to tackle them.

The Council would like all members of Brent’s community to come along to the event, take part in a panel discussion and workshops and drive real, community-led solutions to the issues raised.

Alex Krasodomski-Jones from leading think tank Demos, Dr Varun Uberoi from Brunel University and Dr Sara Silvestri from City University London will take their seats on the panel, along with Cllr Michael Pavey, Brent Council’s Cabinet Member for Stronger Communities. The event will take place on Monday 3 October 2016 from 6pm to 9pm at Brent Civic Centre.

knowing the gender of students or any indications of their ethnic background or religion.

The admissions process would use any relevant

contextual information about a student - such as whether they were from a low-income family - but the name would be concealed.

Last year, former Prime Minister David Cameron said universities should use name-blind recruitment as a way of promoting social mobility and preventing bias against minorities.

The pilot study will find out how this might be implemented more widely, such as whether the name of the applicant should be known before a decision is taken to offer them a place.

New exhibition reveals history of Jewish Stamford Hill Hackney’s Jewish residents have a rich and interesting history, spanning 350 years in the borough. A new display at Hackney Museum, created by young women from the Chassidic Orthodox community group Teen Action, gives a glimpse into this history around the time of the Second World War and afterwards.

Through film, photography and written stories, memories are shared first-hand by seven members of the community who recall their feelings of migration, their first impressions of London and what everyday life was like in Stamford Hill more than 80 years ago.

The project was supported by a £9,900 grant from the Heritage

Lottery Fund (HLF).

The temporary display, Sharing Our Stories: Jewish Stamford Hill, 1930s–1950s, will be on display at Hackney Museum 13 September 2016–9 January 2017.

For more information on Hackney Museum including opening hours visit: www.hackney.gov.uk/mu seum.

Red tape 'stops school nurses doing job' Child protection work and excessive bureaucracy are diverting school nurses from their key role of promoting children's well-being, argues a report. The Children's Commissioner for England says nurses are increasingly having to deal with cases rejected by social workers.

Of 800 nurses surveyed, 40% said they

were too often dissatisfied with social workers' responses to referrals.

Council leaders urged ministers to invest more in local services. The nurses questioned said they were finding it harder to successfully refer children at risk to social services because of some councils' increasingly high thresholds for child protection intervention.

And this had led to school nurses undertaking some of the early stage child protection work which used to be carried out by social workers, they said.

A fifth of school nurses said they felt their child protection caseload, paperwork and other activities associated with it was limiting their capacity to carry out other duties.

11

Congratulations Congratulations to Rea Tushar Patel, Grandaughter of Ambubhai C Patel (Leicester) for her 8 A*. She also completed her GCSE in Biology last year and achieved an A* in that too bringing her total to 9 along with a pass in ICT. She will be studying A levels in Chemistry, Biology, Maths and Further Maths.

New scholarships for Indian graduate students in law Cornelia Sorabji, pictured, the first female law student at Oxford in 1889 continues to provide a pioneering link between India and the University of Oxford.

Cornelia Sorabji was not only Somerville College’s first Indian student, but was also the first Indian woman to study at any British University. 15th November 2016 will mark 150 years of Cornelia Sorabji's birth.

On her return to her home country, Cornelia became the first woman to practice law in India and worked on behalf of women living in purdah.

Her lifetime’s work as a social reformer centred on support for the poor and for women at every level of society.

From its inception in 1879, Somerville College, founded as one of the first two institutions at the University of Oxford to admit women, had been dedicated to inclusion, explicitly welcoming students from all social backgrounds, any kind of cultural and religious beliefs, and all nationalities.

Cornelia Sorabji actually came to Oxford with the

help of a subscription raised by progressive British men and women including Madeleine Shaw Lefevre, the first Principal of Somerville.

To celebrate Cornelia Sorabji and her achievements, Oxford India Centre has announced scholarships for outstanding Indian graduate students in Law. The Cornelia Sorabji Law Programme is housed at the Oxford India Centre, and provides a thriving postgraduate and postdoctoral programme for talented Indian graduate students who seek to lead change on their return to India.

How can I support the work of IODR? IODR exists to measurably improve the wellbeing of children following natural and other disasters. IODR’s current efforts are centred on supporting the victims of the Nepalese earthquake in 2015 and to help them rebuild their lives and create sustainable futures.

IODR relies on the generosity of individuals and businesses to help raise funds to support its projects. IODR actively seeks volunteers who can give up their time and share their knowledge at an IODR centre. A recent volunteer summarised her experience, stating ‘IODR was an amazing, eye-opening experience and one that I will never forget.

Working with the children was so rewarding. I learned a great deal about how to better communicate and my teaching skills have improved

substantially. It was fantastic to completely immerse myself in Sri Lankan culture and help such lively, enthusiastic children’. We look for individuals who want to sponsor a child. Put simply, we ask you to help IODR spread the word.

In the UK, we concentrate on fundraising and we encourage you individually or collectively to organise your own events from coffee mornings, to bake sales or by entering an event and choosing IODR as your beneficiary. We’ll help you along the way.

IODR also run a selection of organised events throughout the year. If you want to support IODR but cannot commit to organising your own event, perhaps you could purchase a table at an IODR event, or donate an item for auctions or raffles.

Please contact us to find

out about our up and coming events or visit us a t www.iodr.co.uk/events.

IODR encourages you to simply make a donation and you can do this online at www.iodr.co.uk.

You can be satisfied in the knowledge that every pound is given to those who need it most and

every penny makes a real positive difference to the lives of children that IODR supports.

12

MEDIA WATCH

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 17th September 2016

The G20 Summit in the Chinese city of Hangzhou witnessed the world’s good and great assemble to discuss and solve, if possible, global issues such as climate change and protectionism etc It was left to India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, to make the wake-up call to the heads of state and government to tackle the most difficult problem of our time, namely, the threat of international terrorism to political and social stability across continents. Without naming Pakistan (he didn’t have to) he was on message. Exporting of terrorism is fraught with danger for the exporter and undermines regional and global stability.

both countries an eye in the sky that covers the entire region including the South China Sea. India will also give a $5 million grant for the construction of Software Park at Telecommunications University in Nha Trang

Signal to China

Egyptian President Fattah al-Sisi in New Delhi inspecting Guard of Honour

Chinese President Xi Jinping (C) with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (2nd L), Brazil’s President Michel Temer (L), Russian President Vladimir Putin (2nd R) and South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma at the West Lake State Guest House ahead of G20 Summit in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China

Also, it was futile and self-defeating to indulge in the casuistry of distinguishing good terrorists from bad, and using the former as instruments of realpolitik. His clarion call was directed at hosts, China, and the United States, but whether they abjure such shortsighted practices only time will tell. Thus far, they have turned a deaf ear to such appeals, and there is little likelihood of a change of conduct anytime soon. The innocent and defenceless will have to bear the consequences of this cynicism. Is it not wiser to have a safer and better world than chase illusory gains in a precarious existence?

(Times of India, Hindu, Mint September 6)

Getting tough: Wahabi theocracy Hurriyat goal

not choose to support one terror group over another, but this is what the United States has been doing in the broader Middle East.

The United States has ruled out any economic measures against Pakistan, and is in talks with Saudi Arabia for an arms deal worth a staggering $115 billion (Times of India September 9)

India, Vietnam forge closer ties

India and Vietnam took a significant step forward in their relationship with Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Hanoi en route to the G20 summit in China. A strong defence component formed the core of his

Kashmir on the boil

There appears to be no let-up in the violence in the Kashmir valley.

The all-party delegation to Srinagar to open a dialogue with secessionist leaders returned to Delhi without exchanging a word since the secessionist leadership refused to participate in any conversation without a prior commitment from the central government that Pakistan would have to be a party to a conference on a referendum to decide the Kashmir’s future. By bringing in Pakistan, rest assured that there will be no sympathetic international responses to Hurriyat demands.

The Hurriyat leadership’s copyright on stupidity is quite unique.

The government is considering a bigger role for the Army, particularly in known infiltration routes (Telegraph September 8)

Better late than never: The government has belatedly awoken to Hurriyat’s true agenda, which is to establish a Wahabi theocracy in Kashmir, as has been pointed in this column and on the Comment page time and again. All talk of Kashmiryat was, is, pure humbug. As a realization of this stark reality that brooks no denial, the government has decided to toughen up on its policy in Kashmir.

Having fired a broadside on Pakistan’s export of terrorism into India, with Afghanistan and Bangladesh chiming in to include themselves as well, the Army has been substantially reinforced for frontline duties in southern Kashmir, the eye of the present jihadi storm.

(Hindu, Times of India September 10)

There is considerable anxiety among the minority Shia Muslims at the recent turn of events in the State. They are worried by the jihadi antics of Sunni leaders, seeing the appalling attacks on Shia mosques in Pakistan (Times of India September 6)

Bit between his teeth, Prime Minister Modi launched another attack on Pakistan in Laos, where was attending a summit of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). He is clearly on message, hammering home the seriousness of state terrorism as a component of a country’s diplomacy and its implications for international diplomacy.

President Obama chipped in with a statement that Pakistan could

Ties between India and Egypt that were once so close were put into deep freeze by the former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. The accession to power of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has led to a de-freezing of the relationship. During his State visit to India, he expressed his firm resolve to cooperate fully with India in combating international terrorism, pointing especially to

PM’s attack in Laos

the volatile situation in Syria and Libya. He was committed to reengage with India on the economic front, and appealed to Indian businessmen to invest in Egypt and help its economy grow after years of political turbulence and unrest. There are opportunities for Indian investors to turn a healthy profit from their Egyptian ventures, said Mr al Sisi (Hindu September 3)

Shias’ anxiety

Egypt, India cement security ties

Modi’s visit was a signal to China to rein in its aggressive posture in the South China Sea. Building strong relationships with Countries on China’s periphery has far-reaching strategic implications for India and Vietnam. ((Times of India September 4)

Small businesses best bet: Nilekani

Small businesses are India’s best bet, as big businesses no longer can create the jobs they once did, said Nandan Nilekani, a founder of software giant Infosys and former chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India.

The brain behind Adhaar said: ‘Expecting large companies to hire more people is unlikely because they will go for automation. They will use contract labour wherever possible. Permanent jobs in large companies will not happen.’

Small companies will generate more jobs. ‘That is where the growth is. ..India’s future is in getting millions of small businesses to a common platform. If we can do that, then there are many, many years of growth.’ (Business Line September 7)

Tata Motors bags major contract

PM Modi in Hanoi, Vietnam

talks with his Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Xuan Phue upgraded ties to a level Vietnam only enjoys with Russia.

Pillar of Indian Act East policy

Describing Vietnam as a pillar of India’s Act East policy, Prime Minister Modi said, ‘Our bilateral ties are based on strong mutual trust, understanding and convergence of views on various regional and international issues.’

Line of credit

India is to give Vietnam a line of credit worth $500 million to source more military hardware from India. The two countries signed a contract for fast offshore patrol vessels manufactured by the Indian company Larsen & Toubro.

Defence cooperation will expand to a wholly new level when it takes the final call on the export of the force multiplier, supersonic BrahMos cruise missile, which has been on Vietnam’s wish list for quite awhile.

Space venture

A space agreement takes forward India’s decision to set up a satellite tracking and imaging centre in southern Vietnam that will give

Tata Motors has bagged a contract to supply states across India, 5000 buses for State transport undertakings. ‘This represents a healthy growth of over 80 per cent. ’We have nearly doubled our order book in the current fiscal already and we are prepared to cater to the current and future demand coming in for our buses,’ said Sandip Kumar, Business Head (Commercial/ Passenger vehicles) Tata Motors (Business Line September 7)

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

designed building is to be built shortly. The metro will start trials runs next year, while commercial operations are scheduled to start in 2018 (Business Line September 7)

Modernizing India’s railways

Two global companies, American Maglev Technology and Swissrapide AG, have shown an interest in developing high speed trains using magnetic levitation technology in India., according to statement by the Railway Ministry. Apart from these foreign companies, four Indian companies have also thrown their hats into the ring. These include stateowned Bharat Heavy Electricals, Surat-based Agile Serthu Pvt Ltd, Telangana-based Medha Servo Drives Pvt Ltd. However, a railway official said that the Indian firms do not have the magnetic levitation technology which ensures a speed of 350 kn an hour. (Mint September 7)

Agriculture blooms

A new chapter in Indian agriculture has opened with horticulture overtaking foodgrains for the straight year. The fact that small and marginal farmers reaped a bumper crop amidst a drought showed the resilience of fruit and vegetables, due to better use with spreading irrigation.

(Mint September 6)

President signs GST Bill

The Goods and Services Tax Bill (GST) has been signed into law by President Pranab Mukherjee, the mandatory number of State legislatures having approved bill, as required by India’s Constitution (Hindu et al September 10).

Nagpur facelift

The city of Nagpur, the geographic heart of India, is getting ready for a major facelift. The Nagpur Metro Rail Corporation wishes to redefine the whole area around the zero mile market, a valued heritage site. A museum dedicated to the science of surveying is to be built in this area. India is measured in zero mile market. It was identified in the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India undertaken by the British raj in the 19 th century. German and French banks are to fund the metro, while a French architect’s

GSLV Space launch. see comment page 3

A portrait of Mother Teresa is carried in the crowd during a vigil of prayer in preparation for the canonization of Mother Teresa in the St. John in Latheran Basilica at the Vatican. see comment page 3

UK Asian Voice | 17th September 2016

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BBC’s menu change BBC’s contract for The Great British Bake Off has been seized by Channel 4 after the failing to pay almost £1 million per episode.

Channel 4 announced last night they had won the rights to broadcast Britain’s most popular show, in a threeyear deal.

Last-ditch talks held between the BBC and Love Productions, the show’s creators, but the BBC’s offer was rejected. It is said Love Productions wanted the BBC to quadruple the money paid for the rights to broadcast the show. The fee demanded was almost £1million per episode bringing the overall cost of producing the 10 episode series and the masterclass spin-off to £25 million.

The deal includes 40 hours of programming annually and including a series of professional and celebrity specials.

The BBC said in a statement that the corporation made a “very strong offer”, but the two sides were “a considerable distance apart on the money.”

Chief creative officer of Channel 4, Jay Hunt said “Channel 4 is very proud to be the new home for The Great British Bake Off. I'm delighted we have been able to partner with the hugely talented team at Love Productions to keep this much-loved show on

free-to-air television.”

As we went to print, presenters Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc announced they would step down as show’s hosts, when it moves to Channel 4. It unclear if the Bake Off judges Mary Beard and Paul Hollywood will stay with the show. The BBC however, still will broadcast The Chronicles of Nadiya, the cooking show by the 2015 Bake Off winner, Nadiya Hussain.

Homage to MS Subbulakshmi on Centenary Birth Anniversary M S Subbulakshmi was born on 16 Sep 1916. To commemorate the 100th birth anniversary an event Homage to MS is being held in her honour on the same date at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, which would include performances by twenty singers and dancers on the stage she sang in the 1970s.

She was the first musician ever to be awarded Bharat Ratna, the highest acivilian honour to be awarded by the Government of India. It is a universally acknowledged fact that music world produces a phenomenon like her, once in a century. No wonder Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister said of her “Who am I, a mere Prime Minister before a Queen, a Queen of Music”.

MS had a long singing career of spanning 70 years, starting from the

M S Subbulakshmi

age of 11. She has followers who have the attitude of devotees, not only in South India but all over the world. Apart from singing on Stage, she also acted in a few Tamil films, early in her life.

An interesting aspect of her life is the colour shade of her Saree, which she wore—MS Blue— which has been named after her, possibly the only colour with a human touch !

After a fulfilling life, she died in 2004, leaving behind a glorious legacy.

Both the Government of India and the United Nations honoured her by issuing a postage stamp in 2005.

The performers on 16th Sep 2016, who will be singing on the same stage as MS sang once, are Ratna Srikantiah, Pushkala Gopal, Shruti Sriram, Annapoorna Kuppuswamy, Srikanth Sarma, Veena Pani, Neetha Kalluri, Kavya Rajagopalan, Sandhya Anantraman, Prakriti Ganguly, Deepa Vishwamohan, Dura Ranga Natchiyar, Ranjitha Chowalloor, Arifa Khan, Biranavi Kirupakaran, Shivani Sekar, Abeesa Mahendran, Srinidhi, Jayalakshmi and accompanied on the violin by A c h u t h a n Sripathmanathan.

The event is free to the audience and all are welcome.

The Bhavan’s Open Day New Academic Year 2016/17 Sat 10 September 10.30am - 4.30pm 2 2 Co u r s e s i n I n d i a n M u s i c , Da n ce , Yoga, Languages Taster Cou rses| Street Food Meet the Teachers | Cou rse Registration 020 7 3 81 3 0 8 6/46 0 8 w w w.bhavan.net T h e B h a v a n , 4 a C a s t l e t o w n Ro a d , Wes t Kensington, London, W1 4 9 HE

Step inside and disc cover tth he beauty of IIn ndian arts

13

Celebrating sixteen years of Asian Achievers Awards on Sept 16th Friday 16th September will witness another history in the making. Asian Business Publications Limited (ABPL) will host its 16th annual Asian Achievers Awards at the prestigious Grosvenor House. The event will be attended by over 800 guests, including business tycoons, entrepreneurs, company directors, senior professionals, members of Parliament and the uniformed services.

Now an integral part of British life, the Asian community plays an increasingly important role in shaping the country’s future. Known as The People’s Choice Awards, the Asian Achievers Awards celebrates the outstanding work of South Asian individuals from across a spectrum of backgrounds and professions. Like many other areas, British-Asian representation in professional fields has increased over the last few years.

This year’s theme is Professional of the Year, to acknowledge the outstanding achievements in the Professions and con-

tributions to the community. The awards are therefore attended by the top echelons of the British Asian society.

CB Patel, Publisher/Editor, ABPL Group, said: “The mission of the Asian Achievers

Awards is two-fold – recognise and reward genuine high achievers in the Asian community. I know for a fact that the high esteem with which the community holds the awards stems from the overwhelming participation from all sections of the Asian community in the nomination process, and the free rein given by ABPL Group to the esteemed judges to uphold meritocracy and meritocracy alone. Those twin pillars have been foundational to the success of the Awards and the affection it has come to enjoy as the ‘People’s Awards’.

“Given the record

number of nominations that we received this year I am filled with awe and respect for the daunting process that the judges must have endured to select the very best from a galaxy of superstars.”

Since its launch, Asian Achievers Awards has helped to raise millions of pounds for various charities and this year, the chosen charity partner is the Indian Ocean Disaster Relief (IODR).

IODR’s aim is to create awareness about the perils of human trafficking, to assist in rescuing and rehabilitating trafficked girls and act to leverage the power of iconic sports and other personalities to raise funds to highlight this crime and intervene wherever the need. The Asian Achievers Awards is also proud to have Sunrise Radio and Colors TV on board as Media Partners.

For more details see www.asianachieversawards.com Twitter: @ABPL_GROUP Instagram: AsianAchieversAwards Facebook: Asian Achievers Awards

14 COMMUNITY

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 17th September 2016

HE Navtej Sarna may be the next US ambassador India's high commissioner to UK, Navtej Sarna, is likely to take over from Arun Singh as India's ambassador to the US. Singh is scheduled to retire at the end of the month.

Sarna who has only recently been sent to London as the Indian high commissioner would keep an informal tradition alive by reportedly becoming the third former ambassador to Israel to take up the post

of deputy head or ambassador in Washington DC. In Washington, Sarna is likely to be joined by Santosh Jha who is currently joint secretary (policy planning) in MEA, tasked by foreign secretary S Jaishankar with the job of completely revamping this division. Jha is likely to be the next deputy ambassador there.

Yash Sinha, who has finished three years in Sri

Lanka, may be the one to come to London as the new high commissioner. Dinesh Patnaik has joined as the deputy high commissioner in London, after just completing a stint as India's ambassador to Morocco.

He has replaced Dr Virander Paul, who has moved to Geneva as India's Deputy Permanent Representative to UN, after his 3 successful years in the UK.

Remember, Recollect, Recharge

British Asians have come a very long way since their arrival in the UK. They worked hard and achieved so much to reciprocate the warmth and hospitality of the British people renowned for their open, fair and lawabiding way of life.

Paid subscribers of Asian Voice are invited to send in their journey report (up to 600 words narration) with at least 2 photographs (one when they

By Dinesh Nyalchand Sheth

arrived in the UK and another with their family members at the moment).

These life stories will be published without any charge in Asian Voice as a service to celebrate ABPL's 44 years as well as to put on record our sojourn for the knowledge of our younger generation as well as neighbours.

Here is the another story, this time

by Dineshbhai Sheth about his migration to the UK and his love of writing.

To give a synopsis of my family life: I got marIt was a cold and crisp ried in Tanga to Prafulla of February morning of 1968 Mombasa, Kenya, on 15 when I arrived in the UK February 1971. with - £135 (- minus Immediately on arrival in £135) in my pockets! £135 London, Prafulla joined (2,700 Tanzanian me at the Department of shillings) was the amount Education and Science I had borrowed and owed and worked there for nearto relatives for my air fare ly 33 years before retiring from Dar-es-Salaam to a couple of months after I London. did.

Having recently We have one son, this country on 28 acquired my BSc degree in Shital, who is a graduate February. As I had just Mathematics, Physics and in investment and insurgraduated from university Chemistry from Poona ance of City University and had not worked long University, I had returned and works as a vice- presienough, I did not have two to Dar-es-Salaam, where I dent dealing with derivapennies of my own to rub was brought up and went tives in the investment together and had to borto school, with aspirations sector at J P Morgan. He row the air fare of 2,700 for a high profile career in got married to Krina in Tanzanian shillings which, a chemical industry. But 2003 who is a graduate in at 20 shillings to a British that was not to be as, accounting and works as pound, amounted to £135. because of Africanisation, an accountant in the Those were the days such jobs were not availCrown Prosecution when covert and even able to non-Tanzanian citService of the Civil Service. overt discrimination was izens.

They have two children. rife and, even with a uniI had many offers for a Kian, 7, and Amaya, 5. versity qualification, I was job as a teacher of matheI would say that my only being offered manual matics but teaching was proudest achievements jobs in factories. With a not my forte. However, I were being invited to accepted a teaching post Garden Parties at with much reluctance Buckingham Palace twice while waiting for an where I have had the opportunity to join my opportunity to rub shoulbrothers in Zambia where ders with the Royalty. My a career as a medical repproudest moment was resentative was awaiting when I had a photograph me. taken with the two Then the exodus to the Margarets.

Princess UK of Asians from newly Margaret, the Queen’s sisindependent Kenya began. ter and Margaret Fearing that the floodThatcher, who was then gates had opened up for the secretary of state at the uncontrolled immigraDepartment of Education Dinesh and Prafulla Sheth tion, and to stem the flow and Science. Princess of the crowds, the UK govMargaret was then a BSc degree in my pocket, I ernment brought in a law patron of one of our refused to join the so which was to end unconschools and I was introcalled blue collar brigade trolled entry of British citduced to her by Mrs and landed a job as a izens to the UK as from 29 Thatcher when she visited demonstrator in the elecFebruary 1968 and that, our offices. I was also trical engineering departdisplaced Asians were to nominated to receive an ment of the then West be required to apply for a MBE which has so far not Ham College of voucher under a quota sysmaterialised.

Technology, now known tem.

Mine is the story of as the University of East In order to beat the someone who came to this London. From there I prodeadline, plane loads of country with nothing and gressed to the Department people, including myself, yet progressed to the stage of Education and Science jumped on the East where he became a guest and worked there for 34 African Airways flight on of the Queen of the counyears until early retire27 February and came to try. ment in 2003.

If you have a similar story you would like to share please send it and any pictures to CB Patel, Publisher/Editor, Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar at Karma Yoga House, 12 Hoxton Market, (Off Coronet Street) London N1 6HW, or you may write to CB Patel at cb.patel@abplgroup.com

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Tuk-Tuk with a difference Many of us plan road trips, undertake challenges that defy odds and which can be considered as epic. But one man from India has given travel goals that we can't help but envy. Naveen Rabelli, pictured, set off from Bengaluru, India in February to reach London, in his tuk-tuk, or auto rickshaw. But what makes this special is that the vehicle is powered entirely by electricity and solar power.

The 35-year-old engineer and his solar-powered tuk-tuk have arrived in Britain at the end of a 6,200-mile overland adventure. The automotive engineer reached Dover five days later than expected as his passport and wallet were stolen in Paris. He was issued with an emergency passport and crossed the Channel from Calais.

The idea of converting a fuel-based tuk-tuk to renewable energy came about when Rabelli and a friend were stuck in traffic in India surrounded by noisy, polluting rickshaws.

Speaking about his journey Rabelli said “It was fantastic up until I got to Paris where from there I got some things stolen and two battery packs died. The highlights have been the

way people have helped me out along the way and supported me. People love the tuk-tuk, particularly in Iran and many other countries. They come forward and take selfies. And the moment I tell them it doesn’t require petrol, their minds are blown.”

The retrofitted rickshaw is equipped with a brand new motor, battery and gearbox. The bright red vehicle - named Tejas, the Sanskrit word meaning splendour or brilliance bears little resemblance to the diesel-fueled threewheelers that fill India's roads. Weighing a tonne when fully loaded, its roof is made entirely from solar panels and cloth drapes protect its sides from the

elements.

The eight-hour battery charge can carry the tuktuk less than 50 miles, while five hours' exposure to the sun allows the Tejas to go another 16 miles. The internal accommodation features a bed, passenger seat, solar-powered cooker and cupboard containing food donated by people.

Naveen started his trip in India before his tuk-tuk was shipped to Bandar Abbas, Iran. He then drove through Iran, Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia, Austria, Switzerland, Germany and France, before his ferry crossing to Dover.

You can find out more about Naveen’s epic journey on www.solartuktuk.com.

The School Revolution It was supposed to unite a party, provide a decisive end to a lingering question and in the end, the British public voted and Brexit happened.

Now the Conservative fight on a new issue, grammar schools.

In a key speech by Prime Minister Theresa May about education, she outlined a pledge of a new generation of grammar schools. The prime minister said “I want Britain to be the world’s great meritocracy. A country where everyone has a fair chance to go as far as their talent and their hard work will allow.”

The 160 or so grammar schools which survive have faced criticism that they have become safe havens for middle-class parents who avoid paying school fees and that hardworking Chinese, black and Asian households are well represented but the white working class don't have the opportunity.

It is only six months since former Chancellor George Osborne’s last budget forced every school to become academies and opponents urge another shakeup is the last thing needed.

Speaking about Mrs May’s decision, Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner said “Theresa May has not been mandated by the public and this is not in the Conservative manifesto.

I would relish the opportunity to have a general election because this is a funda-

mental change to Britain and how we educate our children”.

Yesterday, as the education secretary Justine Greening outlined the government’s proposals for increasing the standards of English schools, the plan for expanding grammar schools was received scepticism. The fact that more than a dozen Tory backbenchers expressed concern as they questioned Greening highlighted the battle Theresa May’s government faces over the grammar schools proposals, considering the Conservatives have a Commons majority of just 17. Greening’s predecessor, Nicky Morgan told ITV News that it would be “difficult to support the proposals. I think the government has a real challenge on getting this through”, predicting a tough Commons battle. During the confrontation in the Commons, the shadow education secretary told Greening to “Stop your silly class war.” While further stating the new mantra of the Conservative party should be "segregation, segregation, segregation".

While much of the debate has been about the return of selection, this is just one of four elements in the green paper, which is seeking consultation responses until midDecember. On grammars, it suggests repealing the 1998 law that stopped the creation of new grammar schools in England. The proposals would see the existing 163 grammars allowed to expand, new ones created, and existing non-selective schools able to change status.

In her commons address Greening told MPs there would be no return to the old system of grammars and secondary moderns, stressing the need for grammar schools to boost their intake of pupils from poorer backgrounds. She further stressed that nothing had been decided but that the green paper was the beginning of a much-needed debate.

However, there are a number of dissenting Tory voices, including Anna Soubry, Theresa Villiers, Claire Perry and Michelle Donelan. There is also strong dissent from teachers’ unions. The general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, Kevin Courtney called the grammar schools proposal “a backward-looking policy”.

He said: “Promoting grammar schools as the elite academic option instantly casts all other schools into the role of supporting actor.”

15 UK Asian Voice | 17th September 2016

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Indian delegates organise interactive meets AsianVoiceNews

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A senior Government of India delegation led by Hon’ble Minister Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, and other Government of India dignitaries organized an interactive meet for Discovered Small Field Bid Round 2016 in London on 12 September 2016.

A large audience consisting of Oil companies, financiers, service companies and media was informed that the Indian economy has been growing dramatically with a GDP of 7.6% FY 2015 – 16. Under the dynamic and visionary leadership of Honorable Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, various initiatives such as Make in India, Digital India, Skill India and Start Up India have been introduced.

These initiatives have completely changed the face of the Indian economy with India being first among world’s most attractive investment destinations and features among the world’s best countries to invest in.

With the growing economy, the demand for energy in India has increased manifold and is predicted to increase even further in the coming years, thereby, placing an enormous demand on its energy

resources.

In line with Indian Prime Minister’s vision of reducing import dependency on oil and gas by 10% by 2022, the Government of India is offering offering 46 Contract Areas consisting of 67 small fields across 9 sedimentary basins for exploration and production of oil and gas in India under a liberalised policy regime.

Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), the technical arm of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas is inviting bids for these areas which hold 625 Million Barrels of Oil and Oil Equivalent Gas (O+OEG) in-place volumes, spread over 1500 sq. km. (in 26 Onland, 18 Shallow water and 2 Deep water areas).

Several key features of the bid round were discussed such as single license for extraction and production of all types of hydrocarbon resources based on the Revenue Sharing Contract Model freedom in pricing and marketing for oil and gas produced and various fiscal incentives such as no oil cess, exemption of custom duty and graded royalty rates.

Mr Amar Nath, Joint Secretary, MoPNG, extended a warm welcome to all of

Hon’ble Minister Dharmendra Pradhan

participants of interactive session of London and sets up the stage for the event.

The Indian High Commissioner to United Kingdom, Mr. Navtej Sarna highlighted the UK-India Trade and Economic Relations.

Mr. K.D Tripathi, Secretary, MoPNG urged the investors to invest in the available opportunity to accelerate India’s success and be associated with its 125 year old Hydrocarbon Industry.

As part of the interactive meet at London, there were multiple presentations with regards to Ease of Doing Business in India as well as on details of the new bid round. The first presentation was given by Mr. Anish De, Partner, KPMG India, who high-

lighted the key statistics and overall macroeconomic scenario of Indian economy with oil and gas focus and discussed about the E&P sector in India.

Mr Anil Agarwal, Chairman, Vedanta shared his experiences in Indian E&P Business. Mr. Vikram Singh Mehta, Executive Chairman, Brookings India spoke about the emerging economic dynamism in India.

Mr. Sashi Mukundan, Reginal President, India Head, BP discussed the evolving business climate of India. Mr. Mike Watts, Co-Founder, Magna Energy highlighted the key oil and gas projects in India.

Ms. Rachel Calvert from IHS discussed India’s positive upstream investment environment and the

attractiveness of the Indian economy.Mr. Nabin Ballodia, Partner, KPMG India, gave a detailed presentation on the Indian Taxation Regime for E&P sector.

Mr. Atanu Chakraborty, Director General, DGH gave a detailed presentation on evolution of oil and gas sector, attractive features of the bid round, bid qualifying criteria and parameters.

Mr. T.K. Sengupta, Director (Offsore) from ONGC gave a presentation on the facilities and infrastructure available near the offered fields that may be utilized by prospective bidders.

It was informed that since the launch of the bid round on 25 May 2016 in New Delhi, several interactive meets have been held across India and various international locations – Houston, Calgary, Dubai and Singapore, marked great participation from Government Dignitaries, Ambassadors from the Oil and Gas Industry, Service Providers and Financial Institutions with extensive coverage by several international and national media houses.

The Hon’ble Minister inaugurated the physical data room at London through remote access to

facilitate investors to access technical data for offered fields, which would be operational from 13 September 2016. Besides the provision of physical data room at Noida and Virtual Data Room details were also provided to the prospective bidders. The facility of a facilitation cell to answer the queries of prospective bidders was also discussed, having solved over 300 queries so far.

In the afternoon, a roundtable interaction with UK industry players will be conducted to discuss the the overall business environment in upstream oil & gas sector and the bid round along with a presentation on Indicative Viability Model. Later in the day, the Hon’ble Minister, MoPNG would hold one on one interaction with prominent industry leaders such as BP, Cairn, Hardy etc.

On 13 September 2016 a roundtable was planned with equity analysts and financial institutions to share insights on the emerging investment opportunities in India. In addition, on 14 September 2016, an Interactive meet was planned at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen to provide awareness of the bid round itself.

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16 SPECIAL

9/11 – DEFINING MOMENT OF 21ST CENTURY

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 17th September 2016

Fifteen years ago the day on September 11 began just like any other bright sunny day but soon it became one of the darkest in America’s history. No other date signifies an event and its global consequences to such an extent as 9/11.

Anand Pillai

T

he United States changed forever when four airliners crashed into the Twin Towers (World Trade Center) in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and a field outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

The WTC towers were reduced to rubble. The Pentagon was in flames. A Pennsylvania field burned with the wreckage of a plane. Nearly 3,000 innocent people were killed – Sons, daughters, husbands, wives, neighbours, colleagues and friends.

It was a rude awakening for America. The live news coverage of the horrifying 2001 terror attacks became the most riveting event ever watched on TV beating out by a gaping margin Neil Armstrong’s moon walk in 1969.

With 9/11 the age of terror had begun. The ‘War on Terror’ followed. The world became antiMuslim.

Islamophobia became the most dreaded word. Terms such as jihad, radicalism, and homeland security became ubiquitous in media’s reporting on acts of terrorism in North America and around the world.

Post 9/11, hundreds of thousands of innocent Muslims were looked with suspicion – Ask Shah Rukh Khan.

India’s most loved Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan is grilled for hours at US airport every

time he visits America. Not because he is a terrorist, but because he is a Muslim.

He and many other good Muslims in the world have come to terms with this unpleasant aspect of post9/11 scenario.

Since 9/11 nothing has been the same, everything has changed, the world has changed.

9/11 changed the way we travel, the way we are governed, and the way we view, experience, and confront the terrorist threat.

Now, passengers find themselves removing their belts and outer clothing to be put through a scanner.

Blades and sharp objects, generally, are not allowed in carry-on bags. Over the years, the removal and separate scanning of carry-on liquids and aerosols entered the mix. And gone are the days where small children could be taken to visit the pilot in the cockpit during a flight.

9/11 provoked the US into the invasion of Afghanistan, which has led to ongoing battles against the Taliban and its successors over the last 15 years.

For Americans, the experience of vulnerability in their own country was a shock. The war against Iraq destabilized not only the country itself but also an entire region. With the rise of the Islamic State, the threat from Islamist terror has grown worldwide.

Former General David Petraeus, who commanded the US forces in Iraq from 2007-2008, says: “These are protracted wars. These

are conflicts that will last for generations.”

The 2016 US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump calls for a total ban on Muslims entering the country, much to the chagrin of the resident Muslims already suffering from persecution complex and discrimination.

Aber Kawas, a 24-yearold New York social worker with Jordanian roots, says: “I’m so sick of Islamophobia. It’s followed me all my life. I was in the 4th grade when 9/11 happened. It’s now been 15 years – and Muslims are still being attacked and arrested. How long is this supposed to go on?”

Osama bin Laden

The terror attacks were the handiwork of al Qaida and Saudi billionaire Osama bin Laden was its chief architect, who was eventually killed by the US. Over 2,700 people died in the twin towers and many who escaped from the buildings are still severely traumatised. One of them is retired policeman Denis Frederick. He was inside the blazing tow-

ers and helped save many lives. Today the 64-yearold cannot bring himself to visit Ground Zero alone.

He was unable to work again after 9/11.

For the parents of James McNaughton, their son is a hero. He died in 2005 in Iraq, killed by a sniper. While they still mourn their son, they have never questioned the United States’ military response post-9/11. As convinced Republicans, Michele and William McNaughton will probably vote for Donald Trump in November presidential elections. Needless to say, 9/11 has divided America and the world at large.

While the US government responded to 9/11 with enhanced security measures by monitoring everyone, the terror attacks have left a sense of deep insecurity that hasn’t mellowed till date.

The biggest impact of 9/11 is – security everywhere. Whereever you go, you have to go through security.

However, the worldwide sympathy has faded in the 15 years since the 9/11 attacks. Much of the Arab world resented the US occupation of Iraq. In May 2011, the hunt for capture and killing of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad near Pakistan military base strained relations further with Pakistan. Throughout the Middle East and Pakistan, protests against the US have continued over the years since the attacks.

9/11 Anniversary

September 11, 2016, marked the 15th anniversary of the terror attacks. People across the US and abroad remembered the lives lost. With the anniversary falling on a Sunday, people turned out for the ceremony in much larger numbers than in previous years.

At the memorial service in New York, surviving relatives stepped to the microphones in pairs at the spot where the towers once stood. Some wore ribbons and buttons with photos of their dead loved ones.

The 2,977 men and women who died in the attacks that day were remembered with parades and solemn memorials throughout the country.

Special services were held at the spots where the planes crashed.

Bagpipes played and bells tolled in solemn tributes.

In Lower Manhattan, bells rang to introduce moments of silence six times: at 8:46 am when American Airlines Flight 11 hit the north tower; at 9:03 when United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the south tower; at 9:37 when American Airlines Flight 77 careened into the Pentagon; at 9:59 when the south tower collapsed; at 10:03 when Flight 93 crashed in

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

9/11 Timeline:

8.46 am – The first strike An American Airlines Boeing 767 making a Boston-Los Angeles connection with 92 people on board — including five hijackers — smashes into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, leaving a giant hole in the building's facade. Thick smoke trails into the sky from the tower’s upper floors.

9.03 am – Second tower hit A United Airlines Boeing 767 making a Boston-Los Angeles connection with 65 people on board — including five hijackers — hits the South Tower of the WTC, sparking a massive explosion.

9.30 am – Bush speaks Then US President George W Bush, in Sarasota, Florida, calls the blasts “an apparent terrorist attack”.

He orders “a full-scale investigation to hunt down and to find those folks who committed these acts” and says he will immediately return to Washington.

9.37 am – Pentagon hit An American Airlines Boeing 757 making a Washington Dulles-Los Angeles connection with 64 people on board — including five hijackers — smashes into the Pentagon in suburban Washington, setting off two explosions.

9.42 am – Planes grounded The US Federal Aviation Administration orders the cancellation of all commercial flights in the US. 9.59 am – South Tower collapses The WTC’s South Tower collapses in a huge cloud of smoke and dust.

10.03 am – Crash in Pennsylvania A United Airlines Boeing 757 travelling from Newark to San Francisco with 44 people on board — including four hijackers — crashes into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers and crew apparently fought with the hijackers.

10.28 am – North Tower collapses The north tower of the WTC collapses. A huge cloud of dust blankets lower Manhattan.

Pennsylvania; at 10:28 when the north tower tumbled.

Houses of worship throughout New York City tolled their bells, and families of victims of the 2001 attacks – as well as the 1993 bombing at the World Trade Center –for hours recited the names of those killed.

Both presidential candidates, Republican Donald Trump, and Democrat Hillary Clinton, visited Ground Zero, though neither made public remarks and both agreed not to campaign for the day. Clinton left the 9/11 commemoration ceremony early after she felt overheated and went to her daughter’s apartment, the Clinton campaign said.

Many gathered at the Pentagon memorial to honour the 184 lives lost at the Pentagon and those aboard the American Airlines Flight 77. A commemoration ceremony was hosted at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York City. There was an attendance with the firefighters and emergency responders who paid tributes to those killed in the terror attacks.

In Washington, President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford addressed the families and friends of the 9/11 victims in a ceremony at the Pentagon Memorial.

“Fifteen years may seem like a long time but for the families who lost a piece of their heart that day I imagine it can seem like just yesterday,” Obama said.

“Perhaps it’s the memory of a last kiss given to a spouse or the last goodbye to a mother or father, a sister or a brother. We wonder how their lives might have unfolded, how their dreams might have taken shape. And I am mindful that no words we offer or deeds we do can ever truly erase the pain of their absence. And yet you, the survivors and families of 9/11, your steadfast love and faithfulness has been an inspiration to me and to our entire country.”

Obama said the “3,000 beautiful lives” lost that day will never be forgotten. To the survivors and families of victims, he said, “You remind us there’s nothing that Americans can’t overcome.”

Obama said it was important for the country to defend not only its territory, “but also our ideals”. He said that groups like al Qaida and the Islamic State know that they cannot defeat a nation such as the United States, so their attacks are intended to cause fear that leads Americans to turn on another and “change who we are or how we live”.

(Reference: http://cnn.com) (http://www.torontosun.com)

UK Asian Voice | 17th September 2016

www.asian-voice.com

17

Rig Veda enters UK House of Lords with newest British Indian Peer AsianVoiceNews

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Continued from page 1

Lord Gadhia, a well known investment banker and businessman of Gujarati descent, was nominated by former Prime Minister David Cameron to join the upper chamber of the British Parliament last month. He was sworn in officially this week in a traditional ceremony that dates back to 1621 when King James I delegated the introduction of new Peers to the Garter Principal King of Arms.

The ceremony and preceding lunch was attended by close family and friends including his 90-year grandmother Gulabben Gadhia, mother Hansaben and wife Angeli. A wide range of Parliamentarians were also in attendance for the fully vegetarian meal on the House of Lords Terrace, including: former Conservative Party Chairman Lord Andrew Feldman, Government Chief Whip, Lord John Taylor, the former Goldman Sachs Chief Baroness Economist, Shreela Flather and now Treasury Minister Lord Jim O' Neill, his two sponsors Lord Dolar Popat and Lord Stanley Fink, Baroness Usha Prashar, Lord Meghnad Desai, Lord Raj Loomba, Lord

Lord Jitesh Gadhia (middle) with his two supporters Lord Stanley Fink (left) and Lord Dolar Popat (right)

Matthew Hancock MP and Richard Harrington MP. Lord Gadhia has been involved in some of the largest investments flows between UK and India and is a Member of the UKIndia CEO Council which met during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the UK last November.

During that visit, Modi addressed a packed crowd of 60,000 people at Wembley Stadium, and was introduced by David Cameron in a widely acclaimed speech, understood to be written by Gadhia.

Newly created peers, dressed in Red Ermine-laced robes, take a writ from the Lord Gadhia with his grandmother, serving monarch, Shrimati Gulabben Gadhia, who the Letters has just marked her 90th Birthday called Patent, to be read out in front of the assembled Ministers Sajid Javid MP chamber. As part of the and David Gauke MP and investiture ceremony, new Ministers Jo Johnson MP, Rumi Verjee, Lord Ranbir Suri, Lord Jamie Borwick and MPs Shailesh Vara and Rishi Sunak. He was later felicitated in the afternoon by two former Chancellors George Osborne MP and Lord Norman Lamont, Cabinet

members pledge their allegiance to the Monarch and sign the Roll of Peers and the House of Lords Code of Conduct.

For some years now, new members have been permitted to choose a religious text other than the Christian Bible but none of the British Indian Peers have so far has used the Rig Veda.

The copy of the Rig Veda used by Gadhia also has its own historical significance. It was edited and published in 1849 by Dr Max MĂźller, a famous German academic who lived and studied for most of his life in Oxford, England and was one of the pioneers of Indian, Sanskrit and Vedic Studies in the western world. His compilation of the Rig Veda - in the traditional Devanagari script - was published under the patronage of the East India Company. MĂźller enjoyed a close association with with Swami Vivekananda, who he met in London in 1896, and both shared a mutual respect for Sri R a m a k r i s h n a Paramahamsa, one of the fathers of modern Hinduism.

Lord Gadhia has purchased the 167 year old book and gifted it to the

British Parliament.

Speaking to Asian Voice afterwards, he said: "Having multiple generations of my family with me for this ceremony was hugely important - after all it is a significant right of passage - best shared with

him to have been a great reforming Prime Minister, who brought the country back from the financial brink. He was also a great friend of India, having visited the subcontinent three times during his term - which I was privi-

Shrimati Hansaben Gadhia (Lord Gadhia's mother), Miss Ishaa Gadhia, Lord Gadhia, Miss Priyana Gadhia, Lady Angeli Gadhia, Master Dev Gadhia, Miss Jiya Gadhia, Mr Ketan Gadhia and Mrs Neepa Gadhia

your nearest and dearest."

That same afternoon former Prime Minister David Cameron announced his decision to step down from Parliament. Lord Gadhia commented: "It added to the emotion of the day as it was David Cameron who personally nominated me to join the House of Lords. History will judge

leged to join. Moreover, I believe, he did more than any other holder of his office to engage with the British Indian community. He will be a big loss to Parliament but I respect his decision and hope he will remain engaged in public life. On a personal note, I wish him and Samantha all the very best for the future."

18

FINANCIAL VOICE

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Liberty House the frontrunner to buy Tata Steel Asian Voice | 17th September 2016

Liberty House is ahead of others to acquire Tata Steel's speciality and pipe businesses that could save close to 2,000 jobs.

According to a report, an agreement to buy Tata’s units based in Rotherham, Stocksbridge and Hartlepool could come at the earliest. According to sources, the negotiations were at “critical and delicate” stage. Liberty is understood to have secured financial backing for the deal from investment bank Macquarie.

If finally an agreement is signed, it would be good news for the UK steel sector, which has suffered thousands of job losses in the past year at the hands of the global crisis in the industry caused by over supply and dumping by Chinese producers.

Tata sold its Scunthorpe plant for a nominal £1 - and took a hit on the deal which dragged it into the red. Tata released quarterly results which showed the company’s loss had hugely widened, with it running up a 31.8bn rupee (£358m) net loss in the months to the end of June, having taken a huge hit on the sale of its Scunthorpe plant.

The numbers revealed

the Indian giant took a £370m charge on the sale of the plant to turnaround investor Greybull. That deal – for a token £1 – saved more than 4,000 jobs at Tata’s Scunthorpe steelworks, which now operates as British Steel. The figures also showed that Tata's European steel operations were £90m in the black.

The sales process for the speciality and pipe businesses began in March this year when Tata announced it was selling its entire UK operation as the global crisis in the steel industry meant its UK business was losing as much as £1m a day.

However, bidders were discouraged by the near-£15bn pension scheme linked to the business and Tata performed a partial u-turn, halting the sale. Instead it said it was exploring a tie-

up with rival Thyssenkrupp for its European operations, while still selling its UK pipe and speciality units.

One source close to negotiations said: “Liberty is a rescue bidder because Tata will close them if it can’t sell them.” The latest bid is understood to have a “realistic” price attached of less than £100m, rather than a nominal sum as was the case with the Scunthorpe sale.

Liberty, run by entrepreneur Sanjeev Gupta, is understood to believe Tata’s businesses have a number of synergies with its current operations. Liberty picked up several of Caparo’s businesses when the industrial group collapsed last October and these are understand to operate in similar areas. A spokesman for Tata said: “The sale

process continues with a number of interested parties.”

Quarterly result showed that production of liquid steel declined nearly 16% as it shifted focus from being a volume player to that of a value player. Value added products rose 8% in the quarter, with it now comprising 35% of Tata Steel Europe's sales. Profit at Tata Steel's India unit rose 35% to £57.5 million on revenues of £10.32 billion.

Realisations per tonne stood at £10.45 billion, 19% higher compared to Q1FY16. The company, which invested £111.8 million in the April-June quarter to complete the new 3million-tonne plant in Kalinganagar, Odisha, expects its Q2FY17 realisations to be affected by lower demand from large steelconsuming sectors such as construction and capital goods as well as seasonal sluggishness due to monsoons.

“Demand is expected to pick up post monsoon and the festive season on the back of increase in disposable income due to pay commission award, good harvest and easier liquidity,” said Tata Steel MD T V Narendran.

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

ADB in talks to buy stake in IDBI Bank

Asian Development Bank has held talks with the government of India to acquire stake in IDBI Bank as negotiations with World Bank arm International Financial Corporation have slowed down. A team comprising Christine Engstorm, director in the private sector financial institutions division, along with her colleagues Julian Chenoweth and Asif Cheema met top finance ministry functionaries, including minister of state Santosh Gangwar late last month to discuss the proposal.

ADB, along with IFC and Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) were in the fray to buy into IDBI Bank, where the government is open to cutting its stake below 51%, something it can't do in other state-run lenders, given restrictions imposed by the law. ADB is expected to acquire 10.15% stake in

the bank.

Sources said IFC's deal has run into rough weather given that the government will remain the majority shareholder for a while.

ADB in the meanwhile has moved faster. When contacted, an official of the ADB's private sector operations department said, “ADB meets regularly with government officials and private sector partners regarding its investment program in India, but we do not publicly discuss potential or ongoing negotiations in our private sector operations.” Sources, however, said the stake sale may take some time as the government had sought some details. In addition, the finance ministry itself is not clear if the government should offer shares to global investors through private placement or through a qualified institutional placement.

India's retail inflation down, but factory output contracts India's annual retail inflation eased by 100 basis points to 5.05 per cent in August, but factory output again dipped to a negative growth of (-)2.4 per cent in July from an expansion of 1.95 per cent in the month before, official data showed.

The fall in retail inflation was thanks to a rather sharp drop in the annual food inflation - from 8.35 per cent in July to 5.91 per cent in August.

As far as the factory output is concerned, the drag was due to a negative growth of (-)3.4 per cent in the manufacturing subindex, which enjoys the maximum weight in the main index, even as the growth rates in mining and electricity indices were also modest.

In May, the factory output was up 1.1 per cent, while in April it took a hit of (-)1.4 per cent. In July last year, there was a growth of 4.3 per cent. Cumulatively, the growth during the first four months of this fiscal is at (-)0.2 per cent.

This being the last set of data release on retail inflation and industrial production ahead of the next bimonthly monetary policy update due on October 4, expectations have risen sharply on a possible interest rate cut. This is also because the annual retail

inflation that was above the upper tolerance level of six per cent in July, has since come down by 100 basis points, even though it is still above the base rate of four per cent. The government target is four per cent plus or minus two percentage points for the next five years. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) data revealed that the annual retail inflation for rural India was 5.87 per cent, while that for the urban centres was 4.22 per cent. The annual food inflation was 6.32 per cent in rural areas and 5.10 per cent in the urban conclaves. The official data further showed that prices of sugar and confectionery edged up by 24.75 per cent on a year-onyear (YoY) basis, whereas cost of pulses was up by 20.01 per cent.

Among the states, the retail inflation was lowest in Assam, at 3.39 per cent, followed by Himachal Pradesh at 3.75 per cent, and

Uttarakhand at 3.89 per cent. On the flip side, it was as high as 6.69 per cent in Rajasthan, 6.57 per cent in Gujarat and 6.29 per cent in Andhra Pradesh.

The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data disclosed that among the six use-based classifications of the index, the output of capital goods segment, which is a key indicator of economic activity, declined into the negative territory at (-) 29.6 per cent. The consumer non-durables segment contracted by (-) 1.7 per cent in July.

However, the consumer durables segment reported a growth of 5.9 per cent, followed by the intermediate goods' output, which rose by 3.4 per cent. The basic goods' output inched up by two per cent. Overall, 12 out of the 22 industry groups in the manufacturing sector have shown negative growth during the month under review.

www.asian-voice.com

WHY SPECULATE WHEN YOU CAN ACCUMULATE? AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Why does the price of property always increase?

Medium to long term this is certainly the case.

Speculators may comment the bubble will soon burst, but experience shows all that happens in a downturn is prices deflate marginally for a finite period of time, and then they carry on their march upwards.

Suresh Vagjiani

Sow & Reap London Property Investment

It is simple, money is infinite, it can be printed at will, and property is finite and fixed. Therefore, as you print more of it, the less value it will have and the more the price of fixed assets will increase.

Many people are saying property is overvalued, however I have been hearing this over the last decade. How do you establish whether something is overvalued?

It would be interesting to contrast property against a real measure of wealth, gold being the obvious choice.

According to the House Price Index, as of July 2016 the average house price in the UK is £216,750. The current price of an ounce of gold is £1,001. This means you will need 216 ounces of gold to purchase a property in the UK. The ratio reached its most extreme in favour of property in 2004, then the average UK house cost 720 ounces of gold.

This means in gold terms property has fallen by almost 70% since 2004.

Yet in cash term it’s risen by 43%.

DON’T HAVE KITTENS WHEN YOU SEE THE DAMAGE!

In 1980, the average UK

There was a landlord who was unwilling to pay for a check in, inventory and check out. He found a couple to rent his lovely one bedroom flat, they stayed in it for quite some time and the landlord felt he had no reason to visit the property as there had been no problems.

he had done the check in himself too.

The end of the tenancy came and the landlord arranged to do the checkout himself as

The landlord wanted to deduct costs for this damage, however when one doesn’t have an inventory at the start of a

BUY TO LET OPPORTUNITY Wembley Park Guide Price £115,000

When the landlord went to the property after the tenants had left, he noticed a small amount of cat fur all around the property, in the corners of the living room and all over the carpet. Not only this, but the wallpaper and the curtains had also been shredded.

l

REALESTATEVOICE

Asian Voice |17th September 2016

19

house could be swapped for less than 70 ounces of gold. In the last three years, UK houses have risen by about 60% in value against gold.

The attempt of trying to value such an asset against property is rather confusing, and therefore is not a means to govern the real value of property. This is probably to do with the complex factors which affect the demand and supply of a precious metal.

However, there are two advantages property has over gold, one is it produces a monthly income, and the other is it can be geared reasonably easily.

The bottom line is no one can really ascertain whether property is overvalued. The current tenancy it makes it tricky, or neigh on impossible to deduct costs.

As part of the service we will negotiate deposit deductions with the tenants.

So I contacted the couple, however they did not agree to the costs. They argued that they had been good tenants and that obviously they didn’t have pets in the flat as the agreement did not allow pets at the property.

The tenants took the case to the TDS and asked them to take a view, and as the landlord had no inventory there was

Good size one bedroom flat l Short lease, but comes with the right to extend l Close to Wembley Park Station Met line only 11 mins to Baker Street l In purpose built block l Enhanced value through refurbishment and lease extension

market looks shaky for sure, some segments and locations more so than others.

The shrewd investor buys in this environment; the current market comes as a god send for buyers.

The best course of action for those with limited funds is to purchase with the focus of yield in mind.

Therefore, whether the property price rises or nothing the landlords could do, as it was one person’s word against another.

It did look like the tenants were going to get away with it, however we took a long shot and checked their Facebook profile!

Low and behold there were several photos of two cats taken at the property, including one that had the comment "my fury babies are at their new home."

This evidence secured costs from the deposit, for damages caused by pets which was £500; but not for other repair works, which totaled around

falls, it has no bearing on month to month yield.

There are means and ways to achieve high rentals.

Currently we are closing a deal in W1 where we expect the rental yield to be 8% per annum. We are also looking to enhance the rental in a Kingsbury home from £1,700pm to £2,550pm net. Call the office now to find out how we can make this happen for you. £1,850 as there was no inventory in place. l Cost of repair works £1,850 l Pet deductions from deposit £500 l Cost of inventory for this property £190

All this could have been avoided if regular inspections had been carried out and the landlord had paid for a check in, inventory and checkout!

Call me to find out how I can help you.

Richard Bond

Lettings Manager Sow & Reap

20

FINANCIAL VOICE

Asian Voice | 17th September 2016

Consultant Editor Financial Voice Alpesh Patel

Dear Financial Voice Reader, One of my companies is using British brainpower to create within our British company trading algorithms. I stress the point British because one argument I have made to investors into Britain is that such intellectual property is more valuable than if held by other countries.

We have after all in financial services the world’s largest algorithm based hedge fund in the UK and also research centres at Oxford University supported by that same hedge fund.

When I visited Belfast, arguing exactly this case to Indian investors about doing their Research and Development in the UK and creating such intellectual property from here – like Jaguar Landrover does. And it made a £1 billion profit in just one year from its British outfit. A good tidy simple goal to set myself too then with our trading algorithms in our British company!

Many people, if not most, find the markets confusing. Share prices often go down after good news and go up after bad company news. Some people often think the markets ‘are out to get them’. They complain that as soon as they buy a stock, its share price drops. Other complain that whatever they read in the papers does not translate into expected share price moves.

Little wonder private investors often seek alternative methods for evaluating their investment decisions. In particular I enjoy speaking about understanding the stock market using price charts. Many people don’t know that huge funds don’t ever use the media or a company’s accounts, or meet a company’s management, but instead simply look at a historic price chart of how a stock is moving in order to calculate whether it is worth investing. This is actually my favourite way of investing.

Thanks to software and websites this is quite easy to do.

Many investors don’t see the benefit of this being to remove personal emotional investing. You see in reading a price chart and following rules of interpretation you should, the theory goes, be more objective. And being objective is critical to good investing. You should also be able to examine more companies than if you were reading all their annual reports and investment magazines.

One of the critical and most important parts of investing is keeping it efficient, and this is also where price charts come in. For instance did you know, even while a share price is rising you can anticipate it is going to turn direction by how slowly it rises? All these things help the investor make decisions more objectively and quickly and evaluate their existing positions more quickly without having to get second opinions or pray their stock is mentioned by someone on TV. Being your own analyst is therefore vital and that is why I enjoy teaching the subject. I believe people should not only read what ‘experts’ say but learn how to do it themselves. That’s why in 2004 when I created some investing software based on how I select stocks I was not surprised when the company that created the software told me the stock picks from the software have produced an average 18.5% per annum return since 2004. That’s not bad given the stock market is up about 1% per annum on average since then.

And it too was invented in Britain. Not quite as well known as Jaguar Land Rover!

Infosys to split into 12-15 smaller business units With an aim for massive reorganization, Infosys is splitting into 12-15 smaller business units, each with revenue of $500-$700 million, its own sales heads and P&L (profit & loss) responsibilities. Currently, the organization is divided into four large verticals - banking & financial services and insurance, with $3 billion in revenue; retail & life sciences, with $2.3 billion; manufacturing & hi-tech, with $2.2 billion; and energy & utilities, communications and services, with $1.9 billion. Each of these will be split into smaller units.

The four verticals are headed by four presidents Sandeep Dadlani, Mohit

Joshi, Rajesh Krishamurthy and Ravi Kumar (in charge of delivery). These overarching responsibilities will continue. But under each of them, there will be a greater number of independent units.

The exact number of units and heads of each are expected to be finalized by October.

"This will help us in better market penetration and in client management," CEO Vishal Sikka said at a recent analyst meet in Pune. Sources said that Infosys would also collapse some of the layers between the customer and the company to create sharper sales and delivery units.

www.asian-voice.com

Green signal for setting up India's GST council AsianVoiceNews

The Modi government on Monday approved the setting up of a GST Council, which will decide the rate of tax under the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, likely to kick in from April 1, 2017. The Council will consist of Union Finance Minister, Minister of State in charge of Revenue Department and State finance ministers, the official spokesperson tweeted after a Cabinet meeting headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Cabinet “approved setting up of GST Council and setting up its Secretariat,” the statement said adding the council will hold its first meeting on September 22 and 23. It will make recommendations on important issues related to GST, including items and rates.

GST implementation steps are ahead of schedule so far, the government said. “The steps required in the direction of implemen-

India files complaint against US in WTO

India has filed a complaint at the World Trade Organization's dispute settlement system against eight US states for providing subsidy in renewable energy sector. The development is seen as a retaliation to the American complaint at the multilateral body against the Indian government's domestic content requirement for solar cells and modules under the National Solar Mission.

This is the third dispute between the US and India in recent months as New Delhi had approached WTO against the US visa fee hike, showing that the two countries need to tackle several issues despite the recent show of bonhomie.

For instance, the US keeps complaining about India's patent regime, while the government has maintained that farm goods exports face protectionist measures at American ports.

India is contesting the WTO panel's order in the solar mission case filed by the US, which had said the policy was `inconsistent' with global norms.

In the latest spat, India requested consultations with the US regarding the alleged domestic content requirements and subsidies provided by eight states - Washington, California, Montana, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Michigan, Delaware and Minnesota.

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

may be subjected or exempted from GST, model GST Laws, principles that govern Place of Supply, threshold limits, GST rates, including the floor rates with bands, special rates for raising additional resources during natural calamities/disasters and special provisions for certain States.

While the Centre will have one-third vote in the GST Council, states together will have a two-third say.

To adopt a resolution, three-fourth majority would be required. The Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill, 2016, for introduction of Goods and Services tax in the country was accorded assent by the President on September 8, 2016, and the same has been notified as the Constitution (One Hundred and First Amendment) Act, 2016.

As per Article 279A (1) of the amended Constitution, the GST Council has to be constituted by the President within 60 days of the commencement of Article 279A. The notification for bringing into force Article 279A with effect from September 12, 2016 was issued on September 10, 2016.

Pranab Mukherjee

tation of GST are being taken ahead of the schedule so far.” The statement said, “The Cabinet also decided to provide adequate funds for meeting the recurring and nonrecurring expenses of the GST Council Secretariat, the entire cost for which shall be borne by the Central government. The GST Council Secretariat shall be manned by officers taken on deputation from both the Central and State governments.”

While the GST Council will be created as per Article 279A of the amended Constitution, the GST Council Secretariat will have its office in New Delhi.

The Revenue Secretary will be the ex-

officio Secretary to the GST Council, which will have Chairperson, Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) as a permanent invitee (non-voting).

GST Council: The GST Council, which will be a joint forum of the Centre and the States, shall be headed by the Union Finance Minister. Minister of State in charge of Revenue will be its member and so will be minister in-charge of finance or taxation or any other minister nominated by each State Government. The Council will make recommendations to the Union and the States on important issues related to GST, like the goods and services that

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CURRENCY VOICE

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 17th September 2016

Paresh Davdra is the Dealing Director of RationalFX,

Strong retail sales figures strengthen pound Currency Specialists.

GBP In August data was released that the UK recorded the biggest slide in consumer confidence for more than 26 years in July 2016. Consumers were on average gloomier about their own finances and the broader economy .The gauge of consumer confidence fell to -12 from -1 in June, the biggest drop since March 1990 - when Margaret Thatcher was prime minister and interest rates sat at 15 percent.

U.K. manufacturing shrank more than initially forecast in July, showing the biggest drop in over three years.

The Purchasing Managers’ Index slumped to 48.2, from 52.4 in June.

Figures released during the month of June showed investors pulled more from UK investment funds than at any time during the financial crisis of 2007/08.

The Pound fell sharply in August after the Bank of England cut interest rates for first time since 2009, and said it would take "whatever action is necessary" to achieve stability in the wake of Britain's vote to leave the European Union. The BoE also expected the economy to stagnate for the rest of 2016 and suffer weak growth throughout next year. As expected it cut its main lending rate to a record low 0.25 percent from 0.5 percent. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said the economic outlook had changed markedly following the Brexit vote and that more than a

21

Foreign Exchange

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

quarter of a million people are due to lose their jobs.

The Bank had offered to buy government bonds, or gilts, as part of its new quantitative easing (QE) programme to stimulate the economy.

But the bank fell £52m short of its £1.17bn target when it failed to find enough sellers. Prices continued to rise, although at the slowest pace in three years. With both demand and sales dropping in July, the near-term outlook for the U.K. housing market is dominated by Brexit. Consumer price rises gathered speed, up 0.6 percent in July compared with a year earlier, their biggest rise since the end of 2014. Data showed producer prices rose by 0.3 percent in July, compared with the same month last year, stronger than a median forecast. The pound strengthened after strong retail sales figures showed Britain’s shoppers have been spending in the warmer weather. Government income fell in July with tax receipts missing expectations in the first sign of a postreferendum hit to the public finances.

The government's total debt fell over the month, and the debt-to-GDP ratio also dipped from 83.8 per cent this time last year to 82.9 per cent.

Orders for British manufacturing exports hit a two-year peak in August, data released on Tuesday showed.

Combined with July inflation and retail sales numbers released the week before - beating forecasts - signs are

that consumers had yet to rein in spending after June's vote to leave the European Union. Lower than expected jobless claims also gave the pound a lift. The number of mortgages that have been approved by banks has fallen to the lowest level in 18 months according to figures released by the Bank of England.

USD The U.S. economy grew far less than expected in the second quarter.

Inventory investment fell for the first time in nearly five years, but a surge in consumer spending pointed to underlying strength. The report raises the risk to the outlook at a time Federal Reserve policy makers are looking for sustained improvement.

While consumers were resilient last quarter, businesses were cautious, cutting back on investment and aggressively reducing stockpiles amid weak global markets, heightened uncertainty and the lingering drag from a stronger dollar. U.S. consumer spending rose but the markets focused more on Tuesday's lacklustre inflation numbers.

Economists say this, together with weak business investment and the second quarter's anemic economic growth rate, could encourage the Fed to keep interest rates at current low levels for a while. U.S. retail sales were flat in July as Americans cut back buying clothing and other goods, suggesting a moderation in consumer

spending that could dampen expectations of an acceleration in economic growth in the third quarter of 2016.

Policymakers expect that a US interest rate increase will be needed soon, although there is general agreement that more data is needed before such a move. The Office for National Statistics confirmed that GDP growth picked up to 0.6% in the second quarter, as expected, from 0.4% in the first quarter. In year-on-year terms, GDP was up 2.2% on the year, also in line with forecasts.

EUR The banks of Europe are again in the spotlight as profits sink. About twothirds of Europe’s largest banks have lost more than 20 percent this year alone, behind only energy and mining companies as the biggest losers this year. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the European Union needs to show it can prosper without the U.K. as she and the leaders of France and Italy sought to chart a way forward for Europe. With future relations between the EU and the U.K. in limbo for now, continental leaders are trying to move toward an initial vision of the post-Brexit bloc for a summit of all 28 EU countries except Britain next month. Merkel will talk to another 13 leaders between Wednesday and Saturday as she canvasses opinion before in-depth talks at the meeting in Bratislava on Sept. 16.

We e k ly Currencies

As of Tuesday 12th September 2016 @ 5.50pm GBP - INR = 88.36

USD - INR = 67.02

EUR - INR = 75.18 GBP - USD = 1.31 GBP - EUR = 1.17

EUR - USD = 1.12 GBP - AED = 4.84

GBP - CAD = 1.73

GBP - NZD = 1.81

GBP - AUD = 1.76

GBP - ZAR = 19.06

GBP - HUF = 364.03

www.rationalfx.com

Information provided by RationalFX. None of the information on this page constitutes, nor should be construed as financial advice. The exchange rates used are the commercial foreign exchange rates provided by RationalFX. For a live quote or to find out more about how RationalFX can help you, call us on 0207 220 8181.

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WORLD

www.asian-voice.com

5½ year jail for Islamic preacher Anjem Choudary Asian Voice | 17th September 2016

LONDON: One of Britain's well-known Islamic preachers, Anjem Choudary has been sentenced to five and a half years in prison for his endorsing of terrorist outfit Islamic State. Police said that evidence from Indonesia proved both Choudary and his co-defendant Mohammed Mizanur Rahman "were key in the publication of their oath of allegiance" and were found guilty of inviting support between June 29, 2014 and March 6, 2015.

Head of the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command, Dean Haydon said, "We have watched Choudary developing a media career as spokesman for the extremists, saying the most distasteful of comments, but without crossing the criminal threshold. At last we had the evidence that they had stepped over the line and we could prove they were actively encouraging support." The trial saw Choudary's broadcast speeches online explaining the reason behind him recognising Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as the leader of the Islamic State. Crown Prosecution Service's head of counter terrorism, Sue Hemming said,

Anjem Choudary

"Both men were fully aware that Daesh is a proscribed terrorist group responsible for brutal activities and that what they themselves were doing was illegal."

The police also revealed that he has links to hundreds of British jihadis, many of whom are expected to once be children who attended his rallies. Security expert and Buckingham University professor Anthony Glees said, "He's an extremely dangerous man. Virtually everybody who has gone off to fight for IS, has been associated with him. Between 300 and 600 of them are there as a direct result of his brainwashing."

UK-based think tank Henry Jackson Society showed almost a quarter of Islamiclinked terror offenders in the

UK since 1999 who were inspired by Choudary or his close associates.

The leader's supporters didn't react too well, and shouted "Allahu Akbar" as Choudary stood for test at the Central Criminal Court, London. The London-based preacher has been a controversial figure. He has been seen standing at street corners and promising that Islamic flags would be flying over Downing Street. One of his several absurd statements include calling the Queen to wear a burka. Troubles began for Choudary in 2014, after his name was seen on an oath declaring the legitimacy of the "proclaimed Islamic Caliphate State."

Choudary's speeches reach beyond London and the UK, towards the west.

Making a case for his influential ways, a newly recruited academic who spends his time researching extremism, Jesse Morton, 37, once aspired to raise al-Qaeda's black flag in America. Known as Younus Abdullah Muhammed, Morton was jailed for over 11 years for charges of encouraging extremists to attack the creators of the South Park cartoon, amongst others. A

satire on the show showed Prophet Muhammad in a comedy bear suit.

Deradicalised and regretting his former ways, he said it was in 2004, during New York's annual Muslim Day Parade, that he found Choudary's American followers.

"I was eating at a food stand and I saw the Islamic Thinkers Society, with their black flag and T-shirts saying 'I Love Jihad' in Arabic.

Wow, I'm attracted. There are pictures of dead Muslim children. There are leaflets on the Khilafah, denunciations of George W Bush and his crusade. I was hooked.

And I went up to the man at the back who looked like the leader, and said, 'I want to join your movement,'" said Morton. He added, "I had been looking for this very organisation. I already had the belief that my society had betrayed me. I was already sympathising with al-Qaeda.

My religious conversion was much more of a political statement than theological and this group was giving me an outlet." Both he, and Choudary met on Skype, where the latter encouraged the group to promote the recruit.

Nepalese officer cleared of torturing suspected Maoist detainees LONDON: The Old Bailey has cleared a Nepalese army officer of charges related to torturing of Maoist detainees.

Lieutanent Colonel Kumar Lama, 49, faced charges under a rarely used clause of the 1988 Criminal Justice Act, that allows prosecution of alleged foreign war criminals in the UK. Arrested in 2013, Lama was serving as a UN peacekeeper in South Sudan before he was detained.

The trial heard that Lama presided over beatings of his alleged prisoner Janak Raut while in charge of the Gorusinghe barracks in Kapilvastu. It was claimed

Kumar Lama

that one of his unusual means of torture was to allow a soldier's pet parrot to peck at the victims until they bled.

The first trial took place in February 2015, however, the

jury was later discharged citing lack of sufficiently qualified translators to hear evidence presented by over a dozen of witnesses flown in to the UK. A second jury was discharged last month after failing to agree on a verdict on the remaining torture charge.

The Crown Prosecution Service announced it would no longer offer evidence against Lama.

Prosecutor Duncan Penny QC said, "The crown has carefully and thoroughly considered the evidence on the remaining count and there was no longer a realistic prospect of conviction."

Justice Sweeney said, "It is relatively rare for so many witnesses to require interpreters and indeed for so many problems to arise in one case." One of the alleged victims, Raut said he respected the jury's decision but hoped the government of Nepal would consider legal action. A solicitor of the law firm that represented Raut, said, "We have worked very hard on a number of these cases and it is a source of great satisfaction to know that the UK takes serious its international obligation to investigate and where appropriate to prosecute alleged crimes of this nature."

Family accused over plot to pardon Samia killer KARACHI: With the trial date for Bradford woman Samia Shahid's murder is set to begin on 17 September, a new report suggests her family members had planned to pardon her killer with the help of loopholes in Pakistan's controversial "blood money" laws. The police have alleged that the "honour" killing was "almost a perfect (murder) plot" prepared by her father Mohammed Shahid and former husband Choudhry Shakeel. The 43-page report said Shahid's father and former husband carried out a "premeditated and coldblooded honour killing."

Mohammed had allegedly

demanded a postmortem on his deceased daughter two hours after he allegedly pinned her down while Shakeel strangulated her with a scarf. It is believed that the father wanted to establish he was a complainant in the case. It is also established

that she was raped before being killed. By which, he would have the right to decide the punishment for the killer, giving him a chance to pardon Shakeel.

"Shahid (Samia's father) could have easily pardoned him after a few days being

'Wali' (guardian) of the victim. This way, he could have hidden this gory crime in almost a perfect plot," the report said. It added that Samia's mother and sister were involved in the plot too.

The accused's lawyer has dismissed the police report, saying it was based on assumptions. "In Pakistan's legal regime, physical evidence carries maximum importance. There is not even a single eyewitness in the case."

However, lead investigator Abubakar Khuda Bakhsh said there are no loopholes.

"How can they deny rape and DNA? We have a DNA report which matches perfectly with her first husband."

In Brief

AsianVoiceNews

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Obama nominates first Muslim to federal judiciary

WASHINGTON: Pakistan-born Abid Qureshi could be the first Muslim to be a federal judge of the US if the Senate confirms his nomination.

President Barack Obama nominated Qureshi for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, continuing with his efforts to diversify the ethnic composition of the country’s judiciary.

Obama has only four months left in the office, and it is unlikely that the Republican-controlled Senate will schedule the confirmation process. The Republicans have refused to consider Obama’s judicial nominees for several months now, including one to the Supreme Court. Obama has been persistent throughout this tenure to bring people of various ethnic origins on to benches at all levels.

Bangladesh arrests militants trying to flee to Pakistan

DHAKA: Two couples belonging to Bangladesh's neo Jamaat-ul Mujahideen have been arrested over suspicions that they were planning to flee to Pakistan, police said. Acting on tip-offs, the Rapid Action Battalion arrested the two couples during raids at Dhaka and Narayanganj, RAB media wing assistant director ASP Mizanur Rahman Bhuiyan said, adding the four were preparing to flee because of the crackdown by security forces. Mufti Mahmud Khan, director of RAB legal and media wing, said, “The documents that were recovered from the driver prove that they were preparing to flee to Pakistan.” He said the three of the four arrested were active members of the militant outfit while the fourth, wife of one of the two men, had recently joined the group.

Facebook co-founder donates $20 mn to defeat Trump

NEW YORK: A co-founder of social media giant Facebook, Dustin Moskovitz, said he was donating $20 million to help ensure the defeat of Republican candidate Donald Trump in the upcoming presidential elections. “If Donald Trump wins, the country will fall backward, and become more isolated from the global community," the American internet entrepreneur said in a blog post. The 32-year-old multi-billionaire said the real-estate magnate's policy proposals were "so implausible" that they spark concern his White House run may be nothing more than a con game aimed at winning the election and boosting his brand, EFE news reported.

Indian billionaire's mansion to be demolished

MELBOURNE: A 70-million-dollar unfinished mega mansion dubbed 'Taj Mahal on-the-Swan' owned by controversial Indian billionaire businessman Pankaj Oswal in Australia's Perth is set to be torn down by the city council, amid allegations of unpaid taxes and violation of building code. Pankaj and wife Radhika Oswals had planned to build the Indian-style mansion in Perth. Had it been finished, the palace would have included seven domes, a temple, gym, swimming pool and parking for 17 cars. Its construction stopped in 2010 when Oswals' fertilizer empire collapsed and they left Australia amid allegations of unpaid taxes. They are now locked in a legal battle against the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group for allegedly undervaluing shares of their company Burrup fertilisers to recoup millions of dollars in loans.

Indian-American CEO charged for ill-treating servant

WASHINGTON: An Indian-American CEO of an IT staffing and consulting firm has been charged in the US with callous treatment of an Indian domestic worker. The Department of Labor alleged that Himanshu Bhatia, CEO for Rose International and IT Staffing, paid her domestic service worker $400 a month (around Rs 26,554) along with food and accommodation. The maid worked for 15 1/2 hours a day, all seven days a week, at Bhatia’s home in San Juan Capistrano and her other residences. According to a complaint filed by the US Labor Secretary, the domestic service worker identified as Sheela Ningwal was subjected to physical and verbal abuse.

WORLD Asian Voice | 17th September 2016

www.asian-voice.com AsianVoiceNews

Woman, lover accused of killing husband on trip to India

LONDON: A UK-based woman has been accused of murdering her husband after plotting the crime with her alleged lover. According to a report, the victim identified as Sukhjit Singh was found in bed with his throat slit while on a holiday to his hometown in India.

The incident took place at the victim's maternal home in south east Delhi.

Accusing the man's wife, Ramandeep Kaur Mann of plotting the murder, police have remanded her in custody. Police said that the woman hit her husband on the head using a hammer while her lover smothered him with a pillow. The duo then slit his throat with a knife to ensure that he was dead. She admitted to putting sleeping pills in her family's dinner and let her lover and partner-in-crime, Gurpreet, in the house. The duo then proceeded to commit the crime when the entire family was sleeping.

While Gurpreet was arrested moments before he was due to board a flight to Dubai, Ramandeep "confessed" to the crime on hearing about his arrest, police said. In her statement to the police, the accused said that her husband had refused to divorce her. The couple had been married since 2005.

WASHINGTON: Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton was diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday and it has become a presidential campaign issue.

Hillary collapsed at a 9/11 memorial service and doctors said that heat exhaustion and dehydration was the cause of her problem. After some rest, she emerged steady and said she felt great.

Her rival Donald Trump told a TV programme he hoped “she gets well and gets back on the trail,” but there was no mistaking the sense of vindication in his camp over #HillarysHealth, as the Twitter hashtag put it. Trump and his flock have long claimed she is not in good health. “I really just don't know. I hope she gets well soon. I don't know what's going on,” he said. He also brought up her coughing fit last week: “I assume that was pneumonia also. I'd think it would have been. So something's going on.” Some three million people in the US contract pneumonia every year.

But Hillary's illness will likely attract more attention than the rest put together. Her supporters argued that part of the reason for the uproar is the underlying gender dynamics that stereotyped women as being “weak.” If a man had a bout of pneumonia, they argued, it would be no big deal.

Indeed, the Hillary camp

Hillary Clinton

fought back, arguing that the fact she showed up at the 9/11 memorial service two days after the diagnosis and a day after several campaign appearances, TV interviews, and a long national security meeting with her advisers showed she is a strong woman. “Hillary has pneumonia. There's a cure for that. Trump supporters are racist deplorable inbreds.

There's no cure for that,” read one waspish tweet from a Clinton supporter, as the hashtag #HillarysHealth began to trend. But Trump diehards struck back, asking why if she was diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday , did her campaign initially attribute it to heat, pointing out that temperatures in NYC on Sunday were around 27 degrees Celsius.

Another supporter said that for someone who had pneumonia, Hillary should not have hugged a young girl, as

Iranians are not Muslims, says Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul-Aziz ibn Abdullah Al ash-Sheikh responded to Iranian Ayatollah Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's denouncement of Saudi's handling of the annual Hajj. He said the claims were "not surprising." "We must understand these are not Muslims. They are the son of the Magi and their hostility towards Muslims is an old one, especially with the People of the Tradition."

Khamenei had accused the Saudis last week, of "murdering" pilgrims caught up in the stampede during last year's annual

revealed on TV footage when she emerged from her daughter's apartment building.

Conspiracy theorists spun dark takes about why she was taken to her daughter's apartment instead of a hospital. Wearing Hillary Clinton's description of them as “deplorables” like a badge of honour, many rightwing conservatives had a field day online, spinning various medical theories for her buckling. “Aspiration Pneumonia” is leading cause of death in people with Parkinson's disease, claimed “Deplorable Dr Hart,” while a religious Trump supporter warned, “When you openly stand against God, He shall stand against you.”

Some tabloids went so far as to speculate that the Democratic Party is “considering replacement” for Clinton, but party honchos merely issued a statement wishing her a quick recovery.

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama pledged new sanctions against North Korea in response to its nuclear tests, while promising the “full spectrum of US defence capabilities,” including deployment of an American missile shield for its allies Japan and South Korea. In a statement that conspicuously ignored the nuclear proliferation by China and Pakistan that enabled Pyongyang to cross the nuclear threshold, Obama condemned the latest North Korean test, calling it a grave threat to regional security and to international peace and stability. “The US does not, and never will, accept North Korea as a nuclear state,” Obama said in a statement, adding, “the nuclear test, a flagrant violation of multiple UN Security Council Resolutions, makes clear North Korea's disregard for international norms and standards for behaviour and demonstrates it has no interest in being a responsible member of the international community.”

US not planning to impose sanctions on Pak

WASHINGTON: The Obama administration said it was not considering sanctions against Pakistan despite implicitly conceding the country remained a terrorism-sponsoring entity. State department spokesman Mark Toner referred to “very frank conversations with Pakistan's leadership about the need to focus more efforts on all the terrorist groups operating from within their territory,” leaving little doubt that the country was still using terrorist proxies in the neighbourhood. “Our basic point in all of these conversations is that Pakistan must target all militant groups, including those that target Pakistan's neighbours, and eliminate all safe havens,” Toner said, amid questions from the press corps about US forbearance for Pakistan-backed terrorism.

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Claridge's wants to build a huge 'iceberg' basement LONDON: Luxury hotel Claridge's has shared plans to build a huge 'iceberg' basement, including a swimming pool, wine cellar, and an in-house chocolatier. The news followed ministers' call to crack down on the construction of rich basements to stop the "horrific" disturbance they pose to the neighbourhood. The Mayfair hotel has submitted its plans to the Westminster city council for a five-storey 1800 sq m extension, which is

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Hillary's ill-health becomes In Brief Obama pledges sanctions a campaign issue against N Korea after N-test

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No special status for Andhra, says Centre In Brief AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 17th September 2016

HYDERABAD: The Modi government did not agree to give any special status to Andhra Pradesh as was demanded by the state, but agreed to provide monetary benefits to the state equivalent to special category status. Andhra CM N Chandrababu Naidu demanded that the Centre gives clarity and implement its promises in a time-bound manner after Union finance minister Arun Jaitley made the announcement in Delhi. Jaitley announced that the state would get monetary advantage equivalent to what it would have got if it was accorded the special category status.

N Chandrababu Naidu

Jaitley said that then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement made in Rajya Sabha on Feb 20, 2014 for according special status to Andhra Pradesh can't be implemented as the 14th Finance Commission has rec-

ommended that the special category status can be given to only hill states and NorthEastern states. "We have decided to give a special assistance measure for the state of Andhra Pradesh wherein an amount equivalent to what they would have got if that statement could have been implemented, will be compensated to the state by virtue of externally aided projects," he said without giving any figure.

Jaitley said this special assistance would be for five years – 2015-2020. On Polavarm irrigation project, he said from April 1, 2014 when it was declared a national proj-

ect, the entire funding will be met by the Centre. The Finance Minister said the issues of a railway zone, steel plant, delimitation of assembly constituencies and assistance for Chennai-Bengaluru and Visakhapatnam-Chennai corridors were under consideration of the concerned ministries. He promised that the Centre would honour in letter and spirit every commitment made in Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. Jaitley said the Centre already released £397.5 million towards revenue deficit of 2014-15 and balance will be released in instalments.

Kerala-Based NGO to get Transgenders turn models UNESCO prize for Kerala designer NEW DELHI: A Keralabased NGO will receive the prestigious UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy for its literacy-linked skill development activities at a ceremony in Paris. The Jan Sikshan Sansthan (JSS), based in state's Malappuram, has bagged the award for its activities in the field of lifelong education and skill development programme in rural areas aiming to help underprivileged individuals achieve better livelihood.

JSS Malappuram chairman and Rajya Sabha member PV Abdul Wahab and the unit's director V Ummerkoya will receive the award at a ceremony that will also mark 50th anniversary celebrations of UNESCO's literacy programmes, a statement said.

Education Ministers from UNESCO's member states are expected to attend the function, in which third edition of Global Report on Adult Learning and Education

(GRALE 3) will be launched.

A panel discussion to identify inter-relations between literacy and other sustainable development goals will also be held. According to the statement, the MP will present his views on implementing a programme adopting an intersectoral approach linking literacy with agriculture and other livelihoods. He will also answer the challenge for such a programme and methods to overcome it during the panel discussion which will be moderated by Chakroun Borhene, Chief of Section, Youth, Literacy and Skill Development, UNESCO and presented by Arne Carlsen, Director, UNSECO Institute for Lifelong Learning, it said.

Kejriwal promises 'holy city' status for Amritsar AMRITSAR: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal assured the people of Punjab that if the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is voted to power in the state, Amritsar would be given the status of a 'holy city'. He also said that an AAP government would ban consumption and sale of alcohol, meat and tobacco near the Golden Temple.

"I have come here to pay obeisance. The Darbar Sahib is a place where not only Sikhs but people from all other religions gather to worship. The Durgiana temple is also here in Amritsar, Jalianwala Bagh is also here; the city also has a Ram Teerath. So, if the Aam Aadmi Party forms a government here, Amritsar would be given a status of a 'holy city'," said Kejriwal.

"Anandpur Sahib which is the birth place of the Khalsa will also be declared a holy city," he added. Kejriwal is in Punjab to hear the grievances of AAP workers in the state.

Kejriwal's visit has come at a time when AAP is facing "crisis" over several issues, includ-

Arvind Kejriwal

ing the sacking of Sucha Singh Chhotepur as Punjab convener. During his tour, the AAP chief will meet party volunteers, workers, including those who are "angry over not getting party tickets", amid "growing voices of rebel" and allegations of exploitation of women which could threaten to derail the party's prospects in high-stake 2017 Assembly polls.

Sidhu criticised: The AAP, meanwhile, criticised cricketer-turned politician Navjot Singh Sidhu for his remarks against Kejriwal, saying that the latter is acting like the "team B of RSS." AAP leader Jarnail Singh said that to save the SAD-BJP alliance in Punjab, Sidhu has launched a new front.

KOCHI: Kerala's first transgender models, Maya, 29, and Gowri, 30, have been roped in to model for handloom line Red Lotus. The two have designer Sharmila Nair for their break. "I started with just 15 handloom sarees, and dedicated the collection to transgenders. After I released the video for Red Lotus featuring Maya and Gauri, there had been no looking back. We had to order and re-order sarees."

A yoga trainer, Maya said, "My friends after seeing the advertisements would ask me if I was the same woman in it.

And I would confidently say Yes. This whole experience

has helped me to come out in front of people, even in front of my own family." Gowri said," Maya at least was earning her livelihood with dignity. I like writing and I have never been offered a job. This opportunity means the world to me."

Nair calls herself an unconventional designer who thinks beyond the ordinary by often picking married women as her models.

Admitting the decision didn't come easy with a lot of negative feedback from people, she said she even received shocked reactions from transgenders she approached.

Sidhu supporters thrown out of Assembly CHANDIGARH: Perhaps for the first time in the history Punjab vidhan sabha, independent MLAs Balwinder Singh Bains and Simarjit Singh Bains, who last week launched Awaz-ePunjab along with Navjot Singh Sidhu and Pargat Singh, were thrown out of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha complex. They were lifted by the watch and ward staff for disrupting House proceedings and thrown out of the Vidhan Sabha.

The trouble began after zero hour when Simarjit pushed for a private member's resolution on Punjab not claiming royalty from Rajasthan for its river waters.

Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal disallowed the resolution. He wanted the House to discuss BR Ambedkar's contribution to the Constitution as part of his 125th birth anniversary celebrations instead. Simarjit continued to speak on the issue and was warned he would have to leave the House. The MLA paid no heed.

The Speaker then asked the ward and watch staff to take him away. Balwinder too rose from his seat in solidarity with his brother. Papers in hand, the Bains brothers rushed into the well of the

House even as Congress MLAs seemed unsure whether or not to join their protest.

Thrown out, the Bains brothers approached mediapersons at the press gallery.

Just then 60-odd policemen in mufti and the watch and ward staff gathered there, listening carefully to what the MLAs had to say. The brothers talked about the “repressive Badal government” and its "highhandedness."

Later, Simarjit tried to reenter the House but was prevented from doing so. In protest, he sat outside the main entrance and raised slogans against the government.

The brothers said since 1965, Rajasthan was being supplied 11.2 MAF of Punjab’s river waters. However, no rate had been fixed for the same.

Accusing the Badals of deliberately not raising the issue with the Rajasthan Government "as the family owns land in Rajasthan," they claimed the accumulated dues came to a staggering £153.44 billion.

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Students boycott class as boy allowed to keep beard

KOZHIKODE: Students of the Calicut University's Centre for Physical Education boycotted classes to protest against its decision to allow a Muslim student to keep his beard. First year BPED student Mohammed Hilal was banned from attending classes from August 1 for sporting a beard, on a complaint. Vice Chancellor K Mohammed later allowed him to come to college until the final disposal of the complaint. Protesting the decision, students of the department boycotted classes, around 150 of them took out a rally demanding uniform rules for all students. "Almost all physical education institutions have been following this tradition. It is also mandatory to remove beard while participating in body contact events like boxing, wrestling and so on," said physical department co-ordinator Surendran P.

Madras HC refuses to lift ban on camel slaughter

CHENNAI: Madras High Court rejected a new public interest litigation demanding that the ban on camel slaughter be lifted from Tamil Nadu. The new litigation sought a direction to authorities to create slaughter facilities in the state. Reiterating its prohibition order, the first bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice R Mahadevan said it would not entertain petitions seeking to circumvent its earlier orders. The court also directed the state government to ensure that its orders were not violated, making it clear that police officers would be held responsible if camels were brought to their areas and slaughtered. "You cannot insist on sacrificing camel. Nobody prohibits sacrifice, but this animal is not in Tamil Nadu and it is not native to the state," the bench said.

No-trust motion against Badal govt

CHANDIGARH: Congress party’s no-confidence motion against the ruling SAD-BJP Government was accepted by the Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwala move welcomed by the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. The motion, moved by the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader Charanjit Singh Channi, was also supported by the three independent MLAs. Even as the Speaker has accepted the motion against the Government, he is yet to allocate time for the debate on the same. Soon as the motion was accepted, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal welcomed it saying that he was happy that this motion has been moved. “Now everything will be crystal clear,” said Badal, who was interrupted by the technical snag in the Assembly microphones.

Cong to go it alone in Punjab

CHANDIGARH: Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh said his party would go it alone in the 2017 Assembly elections, a few months after saying that he was open to a grand alliance in the state. Talking to the media, Amarinder ruled out the possibility of an alliance with any political party or group in the state. He said, “The Congress party, on its own, is firmly placed to win the elections by a massive margin.” He added that he had earlier suggested a broad-based alliance of secular forces, but the situation and circumstances have now changed and the party was “way ahead of others.” He pointed out that the People’s Party of Punjab and Shiromani Akali Dal-Longowal had already merged into the Congress and the BSP had decided to contest of its own.

AAI agrees to begin work on Adampur airport

JALANDHAR: Bowing down to the state government’s stance of allocating only 40 acres for the construction of a domestic airport at Adampur, the Airport Authority of India (AAI) has agreed to start construction on this land.

While confirming this, BJP state chief Vijay Sampla said, “The AAI will finally begin the construction of an airport on the land chunk to be allocated soon by the state government.

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Facebook reinstates censored Vietnam War girl photo AsianVoiceNews

LONDON: Facebook has reversed its decision to censor a Vietnam War photograph of a naked girl escaping a napalm attack in 1972 following criticism of the social network, which was accused of changing reality by removing the iconic image from its platform..

The award- winning picture, which shows a naked nine-year-old child crying, became the centre of a freedom of speech debate in Norway after Facebook deleted it from an author's profile page. Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg joined a number of users in posting the picture on their accounts in protest, but it was swiftly removed from the prime minister's page.

She said: "What (Facebook) do by removing images of this kind, whatever the good intentions, is to edit our common history. "I want my children and other children to grow up in a society where history is taught as it was, where they can learn from historical events and

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mistakes. Today, pictures are such an important element in making an impression, that if you edit past events or people, you change history and you change reality."

After her post was taken down Ms Solberg retaliated by censoring the image with a large black strip. She then republished it along with blacked out images of Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King and Ronald Reagan. The girl in the image, Kim Phuc, is now 53 and lives in Canada.

A spokesperson for Ms Phuc said she was "saddened by those who would focus on the nudity in the historic picture rather than the powerful

message it conveys."

Facebook initially said the picture of the girl had been removed as "it is difficult to create a distinction between allowing a photograph of a nude child in one instance and not others". It added: "Our solutions won't always be perfect, but we will continue to try and improve our policies and the ways in which we apply them."

But announcing the decision to reinstate the picture, Facebook said the image's "status as an iconic image of historic importance ... outweighs the value of protecting the community by removal".

"Because of its status as an iconic image of historical

importance, the value of permitting sharing outweighs the value of protecting the community by removal, so we have decided to reinstate the image on Facebook where we are aware it has been removed," a spokesperson said.

Facebook first removed the image when it was posted by author Tom Egeland, who wrote a status about photography that can influence the world. After posting a news article about the removal, Egeland's account was suspended for 24 hours. In response the editor of a Norwegian newspaper penned an open letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, warning him: "I think you are abusing your power."

Aftenposten editor Espen Egil Hansen added: "If you will not distinguish between child pornography and documentary photographs from a war, this will simply promote stupidity and fail to bring human beings closer to each other."

Greta Friedman kisses goodbye to the world This was certainly her last kiss – yes, after spending 92 years in this terrestrial existence, Greta Zimmer Friedman, the woman in ‘The Kiss’ photograph, finally kissed the world goodbye.

The former dental nurse was immortalised in an iconic photograph captured in Times Square (New York) on August 14, 1945, known as VJ Day (Victory over Japan Day), where she shared a kiss with an unknown sailor when Japan surrendered to the US in World War II. People poured into streets in New York City from restaurants, bars and cinema halls, celebrating Japan's capitulation and the

Greta Friedman holds an autographed copy of the famous Life magazine photo

by Alfred Eisenstaedt taken in New York's Times Square.

end of the Second World War. Photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt spotted then 21year-old Greta Friedman wearing a nurse's uniform being spun around by George Mendonsa, a stranger, and locking lips with herin the chaotic celebration in the Big Apple.

The shot was published in Life magazine and became known as The Kiss.

During the war, as a 15-year-old girl, Greta Friedman fled Austria for the USA to escape the Holocaust.

US panel virtually calls Pakistan a terrorist state WASHINGTON: Pakistan was humiliated in an open US Senate hearing with lawmakers and witnesses confirming its terrorismsponsoring credentials and seeking to further curtail aid to the country if it did not modify its behaviour.

In a remarkably candid hearing, US senators openly accused Pakistan of killing of American soldiers in Afghanistan through proxies after perfidiously skimming US taxpayer dollars.

They called Pakistan duplicitous. Supported by expert witnesses, including a former CIA station chief who served in Islamabad, they threatened further cut aides to a country that has long lived on American and western dole when it is not extend-

ing its begging bowl towards Saudi Arabia and China for more crumbs.

“We've gone through a period of time where we've both viewed our relationship as very transactional.

We tried to change that and deal with Pakistan in a different manner and to create a more whole relationship with them. From my standpoint, that hasn't been very successful,” Republican senator Bob Corker, who convened the hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, declared while expressing frustration at Pakistan's continuing support for terrorist groups.

Corker was particularly incensed that after expending $33 billion in US tax-payer dollars, Washington was finding

that Pakistan had spirited out terrorists from the region and was giving them safe havens in urban areas, keeping them out of reach of US drones by hiding them in civilian areas.

“Whereas at one time we were using our drones to ferret out terrorists in that region, what ultimately happened was they moved to the suburbs of Pakistan.

They are now getting medical care. The Haqqani network leadership has been living there. The government of Pakistan knows where they live.

As a matter of fact, they have safe havens there,” Corker said in remarks that could embarrass the John Kerry-led state department and the Obama White House.

She died of old age at a hospital in Richmond, Virginia, last Thursday, her son Joshua Friedman said.

WORLD Asian Voice | 17th September 2016

In Brief

25

25 killed, 50 injured in Bangladesh factory fire

DHAKA: At least 25 people were killed and 50 others injured when a boiler explosion at a packaging factory triggered a massive fire in the industrial area just north of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. The fire broke out due to boiler explosion at the four-storey Tempako Packaging Factory in Bisic industrial area of Tongi, said Gazipur Fire Service and Civil Defence Deputy Assistant Director Akhtaruzzaman. A part of the building collapsed as the rage of the blaze spread despite frantic efforts of the fire fighters. Officials said 15 bodies are now in the Tongi hospital, four at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital and two more at the Adhunik Medical College Hospital at Dhaka's Uttara. Thirteen of the 21 dead have now been identified.

‘Inspired’ by IS, 22-year-old stabs man in Australia

SYDNEY: A man “inspired” by the Islamic State group was charged with committing an act of terror over a stabbing attack that Australian police called the “new face of terrorism.” Wayne Greenhalgh, 59, was stabbed several times in Sydney's Minto area by the suspect, Ihsas Khan, 22. He also attempted to stab a police officer before he was arrested. Greenhalgh is critical.

Khan was charged with committing a terrorist act and attempted murder. The stabbing episode comes two days after a teenage boy was charged for threatening the Sydney Opera House. Both the incidents follow an IS call to target high-profile Australian sites.

Film on Berlusconi

ROME: A film is being made on the controversial career and disputable life of former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. He has always been in the public eye and for his various corruption scandals, "bunga bunga" parties. To be made by Paolo Sorrentino, the working title for the movie is said to be 'Loro', meaning gold.

26

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Karnataka on the boil over Cauvery issue AsianVoiceNews

Asian Voice | 17th September 2016

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Two killed as police opened fire to quell rioting mob in Bengaluru

Two people were killed and three others were injured when police opened fire in Bengaluru as the Cauvery water dispute took a violent turn on Monday after the Supreme Court directed Karnataka to release 12,000 cusecs of water from the river to Tamil Nadu till September 20.

The court had on September 5 ordered the state to release 15,000 cusecs a day. By late afternoon, the country's IT capital was shut down amid fears of violence and arson, stoked by social media posts and local TV channels showing photographs of scores of blazing vehicles and reports of an attack on a Kannadiga-owned hotel in Chennai.

The attack on the hotel took place in the early hours of Monday as a mob belonging to a pro-Tamil outfit hurled six petrol bombs at the New Woodlands Hotel on Dr Radhakrishnan Salai in Chennai. Within hours, at least 60 buses and trucks bearing Tamil Nadu registration numbers were set on fire in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mandya, Chitradurga and Dharwad districts and their crew beaten up. Karnataka home minister G Parameshwara threw up his hands, saying, “We can't provide protection to every vehicle on the road. The protest over Cauvery dispute taking a violent turn is unfortunate.”

Firefighters trying to douse a fire in Tamil Nadu bound buses after they were torched by pro-Kannada activists

Ash Pillai, visiting UK on work told Asian Voice, “I am due to return to Bangalore on Wednesday.

I fear for my safety. I am half Tamil and have worked in Bangalore for years. This has come to me as a shock.”

Revathi Iyer, a UK doctor told Asian Voice, “My Soon, mobs took over the streets in western and southern parts of Bengaluru, indulging in arson and rioting while cops helplessly appealed for peace from their Twitter handles.

As the rumour mills spread panic, schools and

cousins live in Bangalore. I really fear for their lives.

One of them studies near Hosur and reached home close to midnight after morning college, due to the widespread violence.”

Akshay Jagannathan, a lawyer in the UK told Asian Voice: “Every time I go to my hometown in

Salem, I get off at Bangalore and drive t h r o u g h Karnataka.

This makes me fear for my life. May be I will avoid Karnataka altogether from now!”

Dinesh Raghavandra, who is in software profession in the UK told Asian Voice, “I am Tamil and

colleges shut down, sending thousands of children and youths on the streets.

Several IT companies allowed their employees to leave early and provided them transport.

In the evening, Bengaluru police commissioner imposed Section 144,

prohibiting assembly of five or more people for the next three days. The Centre has sought a report on the situation from the state government, even as chief minister Siddaramaiah dashed off a letter to Union home minister Rajnath Singh seeking paramilitary forces.

Plans to quell J& K unrest The Central government has drawn up plans to quell unrest in Kashmir since the encounter death of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani on July 8. Sources said the government has drawn up plans to silence the violent protests within two weeks by carrying out intelligencebased counter intelligence operations (CI Ops) to weed out the militants who, exploiting the over twomonth-long unrest, have milled among the protesters. The government move follows a briefing by intelligence agencies that the protests are increasingly having religious overtones that may prepare a fertile ground for IS elements.

The Army is concentrating in south Kashmir first since there is a total erosion of the state machinery as the state police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have vacated their stations and camps for fear of being overrun by the violent mob of protesters. "Our analysis shows that most of the violent protests in south Kashmir coincide with the movement of terrorists as much of the stone-pelting is being organised and encouraged by militants

who have infiltrated," a top security official said. At the same time, the Army will increase its vigilance and mount CI Ops along the Line of Control (LoC) and villages and towns close to it to stop further infiltration of militant and terrorists from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). According to estimates by security agencies, the unrest has proved counterproductive to check infiltration due to the Army's repositioning in some areas.

"The Army would be withdrawn to the barracks once the law-and-order situation is restored and the state police and CRPF get back to their usual role by reclaiming positions. This should not take more than two weeks," sources added.

While dealing tough with the "trouble maker" resistance groups, the government has asked the administration to show compassion to the "gullible youth" who have been instigated to join the protests but do not have any criminal background otherwise.

Trying to widen the government's outreach effort, Union home minister Rajnath Singh has ordered an inter-ministerial com-

mittee to resolve the grievances of students from J&K studying outside the state.

Clamp down on valley for Eid: A grenade attack by terrorists in Anantnag's Sherbagh police station killed one civilian and left 14 people including three cops critically wounded shortly after the state government decided to impose curfew in all 10 Kashmir districts to prevent any outbreak of violence. The valley did not see any Eid festivities on Tuesday with the state, after a high-level meeting of all security agencies, deciding to use drones, choppers and high-resolution cameras to monitor the situation and prevent movement of separatists, violent mobs and protesters during Eid. The decision was taken following a call by the separatists for a march to the Srinagar office of the UN, officials said. This would be the first time in 26 years since the onset of militancy in 1990 that there would be no Eid gatherings at Idgah and Hazratbal. The state also ordered shutdown of internet services of all telecom networks and mobile telephony except state-run BSNL for the next 72 hours.

born in Bangalore.

So is my dad and my grand dad. I am as much Tamil as a Kannadiga.

These kind of issues in Karnataka, over just river water, makes me question my identity. How can people turn violent towards his own countrymen? This is unnatural."

Monday had dawned peacefully on the city after an extended weekend but soon, TV news channels began beaming reports of violence targeting Kannadigas in Tamil Nadu.

The reports went viral on social media and Bengaluru witnessed the day's first

arson when a truck was torched on Nice Road near Electronic City.

Chennai police have arrested four members of the Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (TPDK) for the arson attack on the hotel. A police officer said, “There are active TPDK workers in Royapettah. They had earlier attacked a post office and were involved in cutting the sacred thread of Brahmins in Mylapore.”

Incidents of looting and vandalism eased on Tuesday after authorities imposed a curfew in the troubled parts of Bangalore. The curfew was imposed after rampaging mobs set fire to dozens of buses, trucks and cars and attacked shops and businesses in Bangalore and some other parts of the state, police said. The Cauvery River, which originates in Karnataka and flows into Tamil Nadu, has been the source of a bitter water dispute for decades.

Karnataka officials told the Supreme Court that the state did not have enough water reserves to share.

In the city of Mandya, 100 km southeast of Bangalore, protesters set fire to trucks and buses bearing Tamil Nadu licence plates. Karnataka authorities have stopped bus services to Tamil Nadu for an unspecified period of time to prevent passengers from being attacked.

US strongly supports India's NSG bid, Obama tells PM Modi The US "strongly supports" India's NSG membership bid, US President Barack Obama told Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Vientiane in Laos as they discussed the immediate priorities in the strategic partnership, including deepening the civil nuclear cooperation and combating climate change.

"Had a great discussion with President of the US on India-USA relations," Modi tweeted after his meeting with Obama on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit, their eighth in the last two years.

A White House official, giving details of the meeting, said, "Reaffirming the strong bonds of friendship between the United States and India, the President underscored that the United States strongly supports India's membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)."

The US has been playing a lead role in supporting India's bid in the 48-member elite group. China had scuttled New Delhi's bid at the plenary session of NSG in June. The two leaders

Modi with Obama

reaffirmed the importance of the deepening partnership between the US and India and the value of their shared engagement in the region, including through the East Asia Summit, the official said.

"President Obama praised Prime Minister Modi's initiatives to reform the Indian economy. In particular, the US President expressed confidence that the passage of GST will unleash significant economic activity," sources said.

During the meeting, Obama also praised Modi's vision of entrepreneurship and innovation, which he said would be "very important for a country like

India." Obama said that he had always been a friend of India and would continue to be a "strong partner of India and help in any way I can," according to sources.

Both leaders reviewed the immediate priorities in the strategic partnership.

They discussed climate change issues and energy cooperation. The two leaders also reviewed progress on Indo-US collaboration in nuclear energy, solar energy and innovation, the sources said.

"President Obama thanked Prime Minister Modi for his cooperation on a broad range of global and bilateral issues and commended Prime Minister Modi's leadership.

AsianVoiceNews

HEALTH&WELLNESS

AsianVoiceNewsweekly| Asian Voice | 17th September 2016

Why you must eat bananas daily FOOD

FITNESS

B

Banana's genus name Musa is derived from the name of Antonius Musa, the physician of Emperor Augustus. The earliest historical evidence of Bananas has been found around 8,000 BCE. Uses: While banana flower, fruit, stem and trunk is used as food, its leaves are used in cooking as steam wraps and serving platters. Both yarn and paper can be made from banana plant and the leaf is used in making disposable plates and bowls.

Some not so common uses of bananas: Try banana peel as a shoe polish. Rub it on the shoes and wipe off with a clean cloth. For a healthy and shiny mane, apply a mix of banana pulp and yoghurt.

To prevent cracked heels, apply paste of banana mixed with turmeric.

Cancer deaths on the rise in America

A

ccording to a news report, death due to cancer is on the rise in US, including many in the West and Northeast. In the year 2000, cancer remained the main cause of death in just two states. In the rest of the 28 states, heart disease was the leading cause of death. And in the US population as a whole, heart disease deaths still outnumber cancer deaths: There were 614,348 people who died from heart disease in 2014, compared to 591,699 who died from cancer, according to the report. Still, the new report shows that deaths from cancer have nearly caught up with deaths from heart disease over the last several decades in the United States. That’s both because deaths from heart disease have declined in recent decades and because deaths from cancer have continued to tick upward.

For example, in 1985, more than 770,000 people died from heart disease in the US, compared to about 450,000 from cancer. But

by 2011, that gap had narrowed; during that year, there were 596,577 deaths from heart disease and 576,691 from cancer, the report The new report “highlights the great strides that the cardiovascular community has [made,” in educating people about risk factors for heart disease, said Dr Laxmi Mehta, director of the Women’s Cardiovascular Health Program at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

This education led to a reduction in risk factors for

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LIFESTYLE

the bones strong. In fact, even the weight watchers can have a banana daily, as it is very satiating and prevents sweet cravings."

Interesting facts: Banana used for cooking is called plantain. Bananas grow in at least 107 countries. Banana wine and Banana beer are one of the most delicious tasting alcoholic beverages.

Scarlet Banana, Blue Banana, Pink Banana, Snow Banana and False Banana are some of its interesting varieties.

Banana is naturally radioactive and in fact 'banana equivalent dose of radiation' is used in measuring radioactivity.

anana is such a fruit that its lovers never tired of eating.

Mildly flavoured and mostly seedless, banana is among the healthiest snacks, easy to carry and less vulnerable to contamination due to the natural covering it has. Like coconut tree, the banana plant's every inch has a useful existence.

Nutritional benefits: Bananas are packed not only with potassium, but also good levels of vitamin C and magnesium. It is rich in vitamin B and also has trace minerals like iodine, iron, selenium and zinc. When added to your daily diet, bananas have an array of benefits. They keep the heart healthy, are good for the gut and keep

heart disease, such as smoking, Mehta said. It has also helped people better understand the symptoms of heart disease, leading to earlier diagnosis of the condition. And doctors have improved the way they treat heart attacks, leading to a reduction in death rates from heart attack complications, she said.

In contrast, some cancers remain hard to catch in the early stages, Mehta said. And even though heart disease and cancer share many of the same risk factors, a person’s genes

27

may play a larger role in the development of some cancers, making the disease harder to tackle using preventive steps compared with heart disease, Mehta said. But the new findings don’t mean people can become complacent about heart disease. Although cancer deaths were on course to surpass heart disease deaths by the early 2010s, this didn’t happen.

That’s because, from 2011 to 2014, heart disease deaths increased slightly more than cancer deaths, keeping heart disease at the top of the rankings overall.

Mehta noted that obesity rates and inactivity among children are on the rise, which could contribute to an increase in heart disease deaths in decades to come.

“The last thing we want is people to think, ‘I don’t have to worry about heart disease anymore,’” Mehta said. “Even if cancer surpasses heart disease now ... in the future there’s potential for it coming back,” she said.

E-cigarettes could cut smoking-related deaths

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ccording to a study, e-cigarettes could lead to a 21 per cent drop in deaths from smoking-related diseases in those born after 1997. The study found that under most plausible scenarios ecigarettes and other vapour products have a generally positive public health impact.

Multiple studies have sought to assess the impact of e-cigarettes on public health, with conflicting results. Earlier this year a University of California study of high school students found that those who used e-cigarettes were more than twice as likely to also smoke traditional cigarettes.

The latest study differs from prior ones because it summarizes patterns of use from national data, the authors said. Previous studies have used local data that may have unusual patterns and are not necessarily representative of the whole country.

The study distinguishes between youths who vape who would not otherwise have taken up any nicotine product, and those who vape, who would otherwise have smoked cigarettes. When both those populations are taken into account, the benefit outweighs the harm, according to the study.

Many experts believe there are health benefits for smokers who switch completely to e-cig-

arettes.

"While the data are still not as clear as we would like, we present the entire picture with national data so we think our estimates are as good as we can get," said David Abrams, executive director of the Schroeder Institute of Tobacco Research and Policy Studies at the Truth Initiative.

Most previous studies count as e-cigarette users anyone who has vaped within the past 30 days.

That can include someone who goes to a party and vapes once or twice.

"Those are not the people we are concerned with," David Levy, a professor of oncology at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and the study's lead author said in an interview. "We tried to get an idea of the number of people who progressed to established use."

On May 5, the FDA announced a final rule extending its tobacco authority to include e-cigarettes, pipe tobacco, cigars and hookah. The rule, which becomes effective in early August, requires companies to seek marketing authorization for any tobacco product introduced after Feb. 15, 2007.

Levy and other e-cigarette advocates say excessive FDA regulation could stifle the development of safer products that could more effectively displace cigarettes.

Warding off mosquitoes in natural way

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ases of Dengue and Chikungunya are on the rise during the rainy season as the puddles and stagnant water are the perfect breeding ground for the mosquitoes.

Following are five effective

To Our Readers

We are publishing these items in good faith, kindly consult your Doctor before you try to implement it. We do not hold any responsibility for its efficacy...

ways to keep away and protect yourself and your family from Dengue, Malaria and Chikungunya.

Neem Oil: It is an effective mosquito repellent. Use a few drops in your infuser to get it to spread across the room. It can also be mixed with coconut oil and applied all over your body to prevent insect bites.

Ajwain Seeds: Ajwain seeds should be combined with mustard oil and applied on cardboard pieces which can be placed

in strategic positions in your house to ward off mosquitoes. It also releases

a wonderful aroma, unlike the fumes released from coils.

Mosquito Repellent Plants: Plants like feverfew, citronella, catnip and lavender have mosquito repellent properties. Keep them in various places around the house and keep your home disease-free.

Check on Stagnant Water: Stagnant water is the breeding ground for mosquitoes, as everyone knows. Make sure your home and surrounding areas do not have any blocked drains or areas where water collects. A common mistake is leaving

water inside an unused air cooler. Drain it immediately.

Lavender Oil: Lavender oil can be mixed with citronella and eucalyptus oils and then sprayed to repel mosquitoes. Reapply after a few hours as the effect may wear off.

As the popular saying goes, prevention is the cure, you need to be strict about it. Keep a constant eye and protect yourself and your family from severe diseases

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Suriya, director Vignesh Shivan to team up for next

Asian Voice | 17th September 2016

Sunaina is madly in love with Jiiva

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uriya, who is currently busy with 'S3', has already taken up a project with 'Naanum Rowdydhaan' director Vignesh Shivan. A statement from Studio Green read, "Happy to associate with Suriya and Vignesh

Shivan for our next project.

Anirudh Ravichander has been roped in to compose the tunes." A source close to the film unit said the makers would most likely rope in Keerthy Suresh or Nayanthara as the female lead.

unaina has high hopes for her upcoming movie 'Kavalai Vendam'. A romantic entertainer, where she shares screen space with Jiiva, Kajal Aggarwal, Bobby Simha, RJ Balaji, and others, the movie is directed by Deekay, of 'Yaamiruku Bayamey' fame. "I play the role of a polite, simple girl, who's madly in love with Jiiva... I am quite sure that my character in 'Kavalai Vendam' will earn positive reviews from the audience," she said.

Talking about her experience working with Jiiva, she said, "I feel very much elated to work with Jiiva sir... RS Infotainment is one of the best production houses in Tamil film industry and it is a pleasure for me to work for Elred Kumar sir... Even while Director Deekay was narrating me the story itself, I got very much excited and immediately decided to do this powerful character."

Dhanush Naga Chaitanya-Samantha wedding on hold to make his A directorial debut

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few days after announcing that he would be producing Rajinikanth's next, actor Dhanush has revealed that he would make his directorial debut with a movie starring Rajkiran.

Titled 'Power Pandi', actors Prasanna and Chaya Singh are said to be part of the project, and will feature in important roles too.

'Powerpaandi' will be produced by Dhanush's Wunderbar Studios. Music will be composed by Sean Roldan.

The main female lead of the film is none other than Nadhiya.

Born Zareena Moidu, the beauty has worked along with big actors including Rajinikanth, Vijayakanth, Sathyaraj, Prabhu and Suresh.

ctors Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Ruth Prabhu's wedding dated are yet to be decided as the families await for an "auspicious" time to tie the knot. Chaitanya's father Akkineni Nagarjuna said that he would announce the wedding dates for both his sons Chaitanya and Akhil soon. "I will reveal everything and announce the details once an auspicious time is fixed," he said.

Samantha and Chaitanya first featured together in 'Yem Maya

Chesave', moving to do 'Auto Nagar Surya' and 'Manam'. Sam is an

established actress, who has won the Filmfare Awards, Nandi Awards, and the south Indian industry's SIIMA Awards. Chaitanya, who started his acting career from 'Josh,' has also acted in multiple hits including 'Yem Maya Chesave,' '100% Love' and 'Manam.' He is ready with another probable hit which is the Telugu remake of Malayalam blockbuster 'Premam,' which is set to release on Dussehra this year.

Samayalarayil' actress said that she would be having combination scenes with both Siva and Nayan but only towards the climax of the film.

The yet to be titled flick to be produced by RD Raja under his 24AM Studios banner is expected to go on floors this month. Sneha will be

joining the unit only in October after completing her ongoing Malayalam film ' The Great Father' in which she plays the pair of Mammootty.

Sneha in Sivakarthikeyan, Nayanthara movie

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ctress Sneha will be making a grand comeback in Kollywood with an exciting project.

The Punnagai Ilavarasi will be playing a crucial role in director Mohan Raja's upcoming film with Sivakarthikeyan and Nayanthara in lead roles.

This is Sneha's first film with Sivakarthikeyan and Nayan. The major question is whether we will be able to see performing along with these two younger talents? In a recent interview 'Un

'Pink'

The lives of three young women change overnight, and the only person who can help them is their reclusive neighbour Deepak Sehgal (Amitabh Bachchan).

'Raaz Reboot'

Emraan Hashmi is back with the fourth instalment of the 'Raaz' franchise.

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AR Rahman and his troupe to perform in UK

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Amitabh, Aamir to team up for first time

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ne of B-town's most awaited pairs, superstar Amitabh Bachchan and perfectionist Aamir Khan are set to hit the screens together for the first time in the history of Indian cinema. The legendary actors will be seen together in Yash Raj Films' 'Thugs of Hindostan'.

Confirming the news, Aamir tweeted, "Finally, the moment I've been waiting for has come... to work with my icon, Mr Bachchan! Thanks Adi, Victor, for 'Thugs of

Hindostan'.

I'm too thrilled to be working with the actor I have admired all of my life. Shoot starts early next year, and the release has been locked for Diwali 2018. Can't wait to get started!

Fingers crossed." The film will be directed by writer-director Vijay Krishna Acharya who has previously directed Dhoom 3 with Aamir.

On the work front, the 'PK' actor is currently busy with his upcoming, 'Dangal', and Big B's 'Pink' is set to release midSeptember.

Deepika teaches co-star Vin Diesel some Hindi words

O

ur dimpled beauty D e e p i k a Padukone tug yet many heart strings as she went live on Facebook with Hollywood actor Vin Diesel. In the streaming, Deepika taught Vin a few words in Hindi, getting him to say "Namaste, main aap sabhi ko bohot pyaar karta hoon." The 'Bajirao Mastani' actress recently returned to the US to film several portions of Diesel's 'xXx: The Return of Xander Cage'.

The time is ripe for Dippy, with the actress featuring in Vanity Fair's line up of rising international stars, recently.

Deepika, who was last seen in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Bajirao Mastani,' is expected to perform some hard-core action in the film. Directed

by DJ Caruso, it also stars Samuel L Jackson, The Vampire Diaries' Nina Dobrev, Orange Is The New Black's Ruby Rose and Donnie Yen.

usic maestro AR Rahman and his troupe will be performing in UK in September. The Indian cinema fans will be in for a treat as AR will be joined

by Benny Dayal, Neeti Mohan, Jonita Gandhi and Tamil sensation Haricharan in Rahman's UK Intimate Tour. The tour will be showcasing AR's inimitable style and mix of eastern classical music with modern electro, world music and traditional orchestral arrangements.

Benny Dayal will perform a selection of songs as a duet and solo. The singer’s acting debut in 'By The People,' first earned him attention from AR. Now, the singer will be sharing the stage with the Grammy award winning artist. Benny Dayal is known for lending his voice to hit songs from popular Bollywood films, including '24,' 'Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu,' 'Student of the Year' and 'Band Baja Baraat.'

Another familiar face joining AR is Neeti Mohan who has graced Indian TV screens for the past few

years – first as a contestant in Channel V’s Popstars and currently as a judge on The Voice India. Neeti made her signing debut five years ago lending her voice to "Ishq Wala Love" in 'Student of the Year,' "Jiya Re" from 'Jab Tak Hai Jaan.'

Also gracing the stage will be Indo-Canadian singer Jonita Gandhi, who sings in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. Gandhi kicked off her playback career with Vishal Shekhar in 'Chennai Express' and then in 'Highway' and most recently has been heard in the hit 'Dishoom.'

The other artist to join Rahman is Tamil star Haricharan.

After storming the Tamil music charts with his fantastic debut, Haricharan has become a leading artist for Tamil and Malayalam music.

The tour kicks off at London’s SSE Arena Wembley on 22 September, then heads to Birmingham Barclaycard Arena on the 24th and for the first time ever, AR will be performing in Leeds on the 29th and Manchester on the 30th of September.

I still felt like an outsider: Sunny Leone

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pening up in an interview, Indo-Canadian actress Sunny Leone said she still feels like an outsider in the industry, four years after her debut thriller 'Jism 2'. With her fair share of hits and flops,

Sunny said she still doesn't feel like she fits in. She has been roped in for a song for Shah Rukh Khan's 'Raees', which is reportedly a new take on 1980 hit 'Laila O Laila'. She said, "I just did a song, it's a small part in a very big film. I am very grateful for the opportunity. Hope I get a chance to act opposite Shah Rukh one day." The 35 year old will soon be seen walking at the New York Fashion Week, making her the first Bollywood star to do so. "It feels amazing and when I found out that I am the first, it felt even better. I am very nervous about walking and just want it to go perfect. I am wearing a creation from Archana Kochhar from Mumbai. She is one of the select few that NYFW has accepted to showcase. She is one of my favourite designers in India and I am very proud to be wearing her clothes," Sunny said.

Asian Voice | 17th September 2016

'BBD' has been very challenging: Sidharth

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itya Mehra's 'Baar Baar Dekho' is out in the screens and, well, when you look as good as Katrina Kaif and Sidharth Malhotra, nothing else matters, really. In an exclusive, Sidharth talked about the movie, his character, and how it was the toughest so far. About the movie, Sid says, "The film is a fictitious story done in a real way. It does not have a sci-fi element or time travel tech; it's about the youth today and their priorities - whether they want to commit themselves to a partner or whether they want to be extremely ambitious to go further and further in their career. The film has a wonderful message on how we need to balance our priorities in life."

About his character Jay, he said, "'Baar Baar Dekho' has been one of the most challenging works so far; not that I have done many films, but purely because it has a very broad character maturity, age wise. You have to imagine all your

relationships to understand how you would feel for your loved one or your friends or family at different age periods. I think just to create that in your head is very challenging, and then you to portray it very convincingly, and not to make it look flimsy or filmy. Our director Nitya was phenomenal in doing her homework and knowing what kind of acting she wanted and to ensure that we keep everything subtle and lifelike. A lot of work went into our looks, into the character portrayal, to make sure there's a connection in the theme, and its motivation. All of this comes across in the movie."

Kat's post break-up movie, 'BBD' sees some excellent chemistry between the two. When asked if it could help make the movie a success, Sid said, "We didn't know each other before, and the first time we met was during the workshop for the film. The more time we spent, the more we got comfortable."

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UK

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Asian Voice | 17th September 2016

Love’s Labour Can Never Be Lost Work without inspiration becomes `labour’. The result of labour is never fulfilling. All selfish work eventually becomes labour where `more pay and less work’ becomes the policy.

Love transforms work into `inspiration’, with efficiency as its result. And efficiency in work naturally brings about success, no matter what one’s field of pursuit. Not only is there a sense of achievement and satisfaction, but also an extreme sense of joy.

Selfishness downgrades work, making it sheer labour. On the other hand, selflessness uplifts and transforms work into inspiration. Only when there is love in the heart can we be ready to give up our own selfish wants and desires in

alone is called seva or service. Such seva not only enriches the performer materially and spiritually, it also benefits many around. The wise have said: “That alone is living by which many others live”.

This is called the yagna spirit in the Bhagavad Gita

order to bring joy and happiness to others.

When actions are dedicated with love to a higher altar or goal, the ego with all its selfishness dissolves.

The higher and nobler the altar of our love, the greater the dedication and surrender, and the greater the inspiration and joy.

Such `love in action’

Coming Events

• Yoga and meditation - a way of life DSYM invites you to experience the above in a day retreat.

Venue: Harris Academy Purley, Kendra Hall Road, South Croydon CR2 6DT Date: 25-SEPT-2016 (Sunday) from 8:30 to 16:00 Call anyone to register.

Pushpaben: 07903 223550 • Brahm Samaj holding Charity Disco Dandya at JFS School, The Mall Kenton, HA3 9TE on Saturday 17th September From 8 pm onwards.

Contact Vandana Joshi 07944913208 • Special Yaadanjali programme Saturday 17th September Shree Hindu Mandir, Leicester The entire day is devoted to the remembrance of our dearly departed family members and friends.

In the daytime a Pitru Shradhanjali Pujan will be held. Yajmans and their family members can participate in the Pujan. This event will conclude with the serving of Prashad.

The evening will commence with a presentation by the LFOCHS, followed by Bhajans and prayers

by Shree Saileshbhai Raja and Shiv Kinner group.

This is a fund raising event in support of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies.

Editor: CB Patel Associate Editor: Rupanjana Dutta Tel: 020 7749 4098 - Email: rupanjana.dutta@abplgroup.com Deputy Editor: Anand Pillai Tel: 020 7749 4002 - Email: anand.pillai@abplgroup.com Senior News Editor: Dhiren Katwa Chief Operating Officer: Liji George Tel: 020 7749 4013 Email: george@abplgroup.com Advertising Managers: Kishor Parmar Tel: 020 7749 4095 - Mobile: 07875 229 088 Email: kishor.parmar@abplgroup.com Senior Business Development Manager: Rovin J George - Email: rovin.george@abplgroup.com Tel: 020 7749 4097 - Mobile: 07875 229 219 Head - New Projects & Business Development: Cecil Soans - Email: cecil.soans@abplgroup.com Tel: 020 7749 4097 - Mobile: 07875 229 111 Advertising Sales Executive: Rintu Alex - Email: Rintu.alex@abplgroup.com Tel: 020 7749 4003 - Mobile: 07816 213 610 Business Development Manager: Urja Patel - Email: urja.patel@abplgroup.com Journalist & Marketing Coordinator: Aaditya Kaza - Email: aaditya.kaza@abplgroup.com Tel: 020 7749 4009 - Mobile: 07702 669 453 Graphic Designers: Harish Dahya & Ajay Kumar Tel: 020 7749 4086 Email: graphics@abplgroup.com Customer Service: Ragini Nayak Tel: 020 7749 4080 - Email: support@abplgroup.com Leicester Distributors: Shabde Magazine, Shobhan Mehta Mob: 07846480220 (BPO) AB Publication (India) Pvt. Ltd. 207 Shalibhadra Complex, Opp. Jain Derasar,

— the spirit of sharing.

Swami Swaroopananda will be visiting London from 21 September – 2 October. For further information on his itinerary, please visit www.thescienceofhappiness.co.uk.

- Swami Swaroopananda, Chinmaya Mission

UPF hosts Leadership Conference Dhiren Katwa Scores of delegates from all over the world took part in a three-day International Leadership Conference in London which culminated in an awards ceremony last Friday. Organised by the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) this educational and informative event provided an opportunity for participants to network and share knowledge and learning.

Among themes discussed and debated included Family, Peace and Sustainable Development; Media & Peacebuilding: The impact of Social Media; Peace & Migration: Cross-Regional Perspectives; Women’s Leadership in the Prevention of Radicalisation; Peace & Security Challenges

through Trade and Economic Integration.

Attendees included Baron Raj Loomba CBE, MPs from Azerbaijan, Italy, Israel. Kossovo, Austria. A session on Social Media was chaired

by BBC World Affairs Correspondent Humphrey Hawksley.

Hats off, in particular, to Birmingham couple Dr David Earle, Vice President of UPF UK, and Patricia Earle, a women’s champion and role model, for their longstanding, extraordinary and selfless contributions to a wide range of good causes. They have devoted their lives to bringing like-minded people together wherever in the world they may be and their achievements so far are exemplary.

To find out more about UPF visit www.upf.org and www.uk.upf.org

ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20 At work sometimes a little

upheaval and chaos is exactly what you need to set things right again. There’s no need to be complacent: the time is now.

Unpredictable energies continue to influence your health sector, bringing erratic highs and lows. The key for you as always is to remain calm and collected.

TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21 It’s all about communica-

tions, as they take centre stage this week. Regarding love there will be a struggle between devotion and freedom. You need to feel completely consumed by the passion of your lover, and yet you need personal space to explore your own thing.

Gemini

GEMINI May 22 - June 22 Although all kinds of opportunities are coming your way, there are many obstacles between you and the fulfilment of any of these. As you clear your path you will get closer to achieving your dreams. Relationships and romance are both under scrutiny by the presence of Saturn in your 7th house.

CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 22 You might feel that life is in the doldrums, but appearances could prove deceptive. The underlying trend indicates that deep creative energies are stirring within you and that seemingly insignificant events and meetings will play a vital role in the future enrichment of life. This is a time to flow with the tide.

LEO Jul 23 - Aug 23

A good time for restructuring and rethinking your aims and interests. You now have an excellent opportunity to sort out where things may be going wrong. The hard part is that you will have to be honest with yourself. Do not get over-anxious if everything seems to be in slow motion - it is time to pull a few strings.

VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23 The pattern of significant relationships in your life will continue to favour you. It seems that a great deal of mutual benefit will accrue because of various interactions. This is an excellent time for dealing with long-term money matters. You also stand to benefit through a bonus, rebate or perhaps a lucky windfall.

LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23 There are subtle transformations taking shape in you life and a feeling of helpful influences in the background. There is much to suggest that you are in tune with your inner self and in touch with those hidden forces which often seem to take a guiding hand in one's life. Focus on essentials and establish a solid foundation.

Nr. Nehru Nagar Circle, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad.

Tel. +91 79 2646 5960 Bureau Chief: Nilesh Parmar (M) +91 94266 36912 Email: nilesh.parmar@abplgroup.com Consulting Editor: Bhupatbhai Parekh, Ahmedabad, Gujarat Tel: +91 79 2630 4142 Urvashi Jagadeesan (India) Mumbai: Kanti Bhatt, Hemraj Shah (Jumbo Advertiser) Horizon Advertising & Marketing: 2012, Shalibhadra Complex, Opp. Jain Derasar, Nr. Nehru Nagar Circle, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad. Tel +91 79 2646 5960 Email: horizon.marketing@abplgroup.com Business Manager: Hardik Shah (M) +91 99250 42936 Email: hardik.shah@abplgroup.com Advertising Manager: Neeta Patel (Vadodara) M: +91 98255 11702 Email: neeta_abplgroup@yahoo.co.in Business Co-ordinator: Shrijit Rajan M: +91 98798 82312 Email: shrijit.rajan@abplgroup.com International Advertisement Representative: Jain International Tel: +91 44 42041122/3/4 Fax: +91 44 25362973 Mumbai: +91 022 2471 4122 Email: jain@jaingroup.net Delhi Office: Tel: +91 9311581597

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SCORPIO Oct 24- Nov 22 You could work with someone on a project that calls for clear communication and a high degree of cooperation. You may also find yourself thinking deeply about what it is you really want to do, and who you really want to be with. The decisions you make now will be important for the path you take.

SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 21 Responsibility is your key word, especially at work. Set your own goals, rather than trying to meet those set by someone else.

Your ability to manage what you have on your plate earns respect from others around you. You will benefit in every way if you learn to self-discipline and pace yourself wisely.

CAPRICORN Dec 22 - Jan 20 The transit of two planets in your Solar 12th House indicates that experience will put you in a deeply reflective mood. This is a favourable time for getting away from usual routines and seeking a retreat for a few days. It will be good for you to get involved in therapies that help you to get in closer touch with your inner self.

AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19

The focus is on finances this week, but that doesn’t mean you should worry yourself sick. Rather, it is about finding new and improved ways to boost your earnings potential. Don’t let nebulous tendencies interfere with your plans. It’s fine to consider several options but don’t get caught up in indecision. Schedule networking opportunities later this week.

PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20 Whether you’re single or attached you’ll have to go through a lot, as deep psychological transformations are taking place in all types of relationships. Don’t be afraid to experiment, trust your hunches, go with your gut feeling. Solutions to minor problems should be considered very carefully.

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Morgan, Hales out of Bangladesh tour over security fears AsianVoiceNews

England limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan and batsman Alex Hales opted out of next month’s tour of Bangladesh, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed. The tour, which begins on September 30 and will include two Tests and three ODIs, was under security cloud after an attack in July on a cafe in Dhaka in which 20 hostages were killed, including 18 foreigners.

Morgan cited the reasons for his personal concerns about travelling following his previous experience of security alerts in both India and Bangladesh.

“Whilst we understand and respect Eoin and Alex’s decision, we are disappointed that they have made themselves unavailable for selection for the Bangladesh tour,” England cricket chief Andrew Strauss said. “We have had open and honest conversations with all the players about the security

AsianVoiceNewsweekly

Alex Hales and Eoin Morgan

arrangements in Bangladesh and at this stage we are not expecting

any other individuals to withdraw from the tour.

Final selection for the

Habib Bhad in England team

Bolton born 19-year-old Indian origin boy Habib Bhad has been included in the England team to tour Bangladesh next month.

His father Ismail Bhad migrated to England from Umrej village in Bharuch district. Habib's excellent

performance as opening batsman for Lancashire Cricket Club during 2015 paved the way for his selection in the England team. This season he scored 1,000 runs and broke the record of Mike Siren

Bangladesh tour, will now take place on Friday.”

Strauss added: “As with all England overseas tours, the safety and security of players and staff is of the utmost importance to ECB. We will continue to monitor the situation in Bangladesh, take advice and consider the appropriate steps up to and throughout the five weeks we are on tour.”

Lancashire wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler will captain the one-day side in Morgan’s absence, the ECB said. Buttler, the vice-captain, has led England only once before in a Twenty20 international against Pakistan last winter.

Following the July attacks, the ECB sent an inspection team to Bangladesh led by their long-serving security chief Reg Dickason. After he reported back, the board confirmed last month that the tour, which is scheduled to run until November 1, would go ahead as planned.

Pak beat England in T20 by 9 wickets Openers Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif both scored half centuries as Pakistan defeated England by nine wickets in their one-off Twenty20 international last week. Left-hander Sharjeel scored an electrifying 59 off 36 balls, while Latif made an unbeaten 59 off 42 in an unstoppable run-chase that reached 139-1 in 14.5 overs after England had been restricted to 135-7.

The openers put up a 107-run stand off 67 balls against the same England XI that lost the World Twenty20 final against the West Indies in India earlier this year. Earlier, Wahab Riaz took 3-18 while debutante seamer Hasan Ali grabbed 2-24 as England's big hitters - Jos Buttler (16), Ben Stokes (4) and captain Eoin Morgan (14) were denied any chance of

building real momentum.

"Yesterday we decided to bowl short balls and slower balls, and we executed our plans very well," said Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed, who was leading the team for first time in a T20 international.

"We had to play positive cricket and the morale is very high after we won the last game on tour."

Together, Pakistan's

Manav Thakkar, Varuni Jaiswal and Ishhita Gupta helped India wrest the initiative and win three singles gold medals, apart from the Junior Boys doubles gold, to lift the sagging morale of the hosts in ITTF India Junior and Cadet Open Table Tennis Championships.

India won four gold medals to Chinese Taipei's five, including four in team events, to be second on the medal chart. India also won one silver and five bronze medals.

Manav, who helped himself to a double gold, defeated Tai Ming-wei 4-3 in the Junior Boys singles final. The lead kept chang-

ing hands, but Manav had the upper hand in the last two games. His win in the crucial sixth game helped him gain confidence which he carried on in the decider as he demolished his Chinese Taipei opponent.

In Junior Girls, Varuni was trailing 0-3 and then 3-7 the decider. If a timeout at the wrong time by Taipei girl, induced by her coach, helped the Indian after she got her fourth point, Varuni was also aided by the red card to Taipei coach Yang Chia En-he was shown a yellow in the second game-for repeat offence of illegal advice.

openers struck 15 boundaries and five sixes in a dominant run-chase that none of England's seamers or spinners was able to slow down. Earlier, after electing to bat, Alex Hales (37) and Jason Roy (21) had provided England with a confident start of 56 off 40 deliveries. But left-arm spinner Imad Wasim (217) dismissed both of them in his successive overs and the seamers then tied down

England's strong middleorder.

Riaz and Ali both bowled at a deceptive pace and England's batsmen lost their way in the last 10 overs, managing only one boundary.

"We needed about 185 on that wicket. It's hard to believe it's the same team that scored 444 a few games ago," said England captain Eoin Morgan, referring to the side's world record-breaking ODI total at Trent Bridge against Pakistan.

"Pakistan outplayed us in the conditions, but I still like to think we are on an upward curve," Morgan added.

The victory rounded off Pakistan's lengthy tour of England after drawing the test series 2-2 and losing the five-match one-day international series 4-1.

SPORT Asian Voice | 17th September 2016

Sakshi Malik 5th in world wrestling rankings Sakshi Malik who won bronze medal at the Rio Olympics, entered the top-five in the latest UWW (United World Wrestling) rankings, rising to a career-best 4th position in women’s 58kg category.

Previously unranked, Sakshi, who became the first Indian woman wrestler to win an olympic medal, claimed the position in the latest list. Another Indian woman wrestler - Vinesh Phogat - who made an exit in the quarterfinals after a knee injury during the Olympics, climbed up two places to 11th position in the 48kg category. In the men’s freestyle category, Sandeep Tomar and Bajrang Punia were the only Indians to make it to the top-20 list. Sandeep, who bowed out of the Olympics after losing his bout in the initial round, is currently placed at 15th position in the 57kg category, while Bajrang is ranked 18th in 61kg weight division.

Indian men beat England in Chess Olympiad

India beat England 2.5-1.5 in the eighth round at the World Chess Olympiad currently underway at Baku in Azerbaijan. It was Chennai lad Grandmaster S.P. Sethuraman who defeated GM Nigel D. Short and gave the team the much needed victory to win the match as the other three games ended in a draw. Playing white, Sethuraman went in for the Scotch opening and by the sixth move both the players brought their queens into play. A couple of moves later Sethuraman's board position improved and on move 19 he castled on his queen side and opened his attack from the King side while Short brought his attack on black's King in the queen side. However the Indian maintained his superior board position to force Short to resign in 41 moves.

The remaining three games ended in a draw. On the top board, World No.15 and Indian GM P Harikrishna pitted against GM Michael Adams drew in 58 moves.

The other lad from Chennai GM B. Adhiban signed a peace treaty with his English rival GM David W L Howell in 35 moves.

No gold for Yogeshwar

Yogeshwar Dutt's London Olympics bronze medal will not be upgraded to gold after the United World Wrestling (UWW) made it clear that the top-place finisher in men's 60kg freestyle - Togrul Asgarov of Azebaijan - had not tested positive for a banned substance. Some sections of Indian media had reported that Yogeshwar- whose London bronze is likely to be upgraded to silver after the sample of silver medallist, Russia's Besik Kudukhov, had returned positive for a banned substance in a retest - would now get gold now as Asgarov's sample too had tested positive. “Contrary to news reports, 2012 Olympic gold medalist Togrul Asgarov has never been in violation of UWW's antidoping policy ,” the world body tweeted from its official Twitter handle. Yogeshwar, who had bowed out in the first round of 65kg freestyle at the recently concluded Rio Olympic Games, had lost to Kudukhov in the prequarterfinals in London Games. But once the Russian advanced to the final, the Indian got another chance in the repechage round and went on to win a bronze. An official confirmation on whether Yogeshwar would get the silver is still awaited.

Indians win four golds in Junior & Cadet Open TT Manav Thakkar

From there, egged on by the crowd, Varuni systematically went about accomplishing the golden feat for the first time with a cool head. In Cadet Girls, Ishita Gutpa defeated Huang Yu-jie 11-9, 611, 11-9, 7-11, 11-9 for her

maiden international title and the win was worth more than the gold she won.

The Delhi girl, who has a couple of zonal titles to her credit, surged ahead with a 2-1 lead only to let her opponent off the hook

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in the fourth game. This allowed Taipei's Huang to stage a fine recovery and take the issue to the decider. In the decider, Ishita capitalised on her rival's mistake and converted some good winners despite a solid showing from Huang.

Apart from the Cadet Girls singles title, India also won the Junior Boys doubles gold when Ananth Devarajan and Manav Thakkar combined to outwit Taipei's Lai Chichien and Tai Ming-wei 11-7, 7-11, 11-7, 8-11, 12-10.

Manav was the lone Indian who played with authority to beat Taipei rival Lai Chi-chien in

straight games. The latter made a late surge in the fourth game but it was too late and too little in the day as Manav after three deuces pulled it off for a meeting with Tai Minwei, who beat Anirban Ghosh, in Junior Boys final.

Sreeja Akula, despite better seeding, struggled in the face of a stiff resistance from Varuna Jaiswal and ultimately gave in to the guile of a better prepared Varuni on the day.

The two, hailing from Telangana and knowing each other well, exploited weak links with Varuni winning crucial points for the 4-3 triumph.

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Asian Voice | 17th September 2016

Indians bag three medals at Rio Paralympics

Indians made history at Rio Paralympics 2016 by bagging three medals - one gold, one silver and a bronze.

India's Mariyappan Thangavelu won a gold medal in the men's high jump T-42 event and his compatriot Varun Singh Bhati clinched the bronze in the same event. Deepa Malik bagged a silver medal in the women's shot put final event.

While Thangavelu made a leap of 1.89 metres, Bhati jumped his personal best of 1.86 metres to finish third. Sharad Kumar, the other Indian in the fray, finished at the sixth position. This was the third gold medal for India in the history of the Paralympics.

Swimmer Murlikant Petkar had won India's first gold at the 1972 edition while Devendra Jhajharia had clinched the second gold by winning the javelin event at the 2004 Games.

The event witnessed a fierce contest with six of the 12 athletes clearing the 1.74m mark in their first

Mariyappan Thangavelu

eight attempts.

But Thangavelu became a part of the leading group after his 10th attempt when he cleared the 1.77m mark along with Lukasz Mamczarz of Poland, China's Zhiqiang Zhing and Kumar. He then went into the lead along with Bhati as both managed to clear the 1.83m mark.

Kumar however, could not

improve his performance and eventually crashed out of medal contention.

America's Grewe pushed Thangavelu and Bhati to the joint second position by clearing 1.86m to grab the top spot. But both Indians made a strong comeback by equalling the height to share the pole position.

Thangavelu eventually made sure of the gold with

Varun Singh Bhati

Deepa Malik

an effort of 1.89m in his final attempt while Grewe and Bhati finished with best efforts of 1.86m.

The 45-year-old Deepa Malik from Haryana's Sonipat district won the medal in the shot-put F-53 final by throwing her personal best of 4.61m. By this feat, she became India's first ever woman to win a medal at the Paralympics.

Fatema Nedham of Bahrain won the gold medal with the best throw of 4.76m while Dimitra Korokida of Greece bagged the bronze medal with a throw of 4.28m.

This was Deepa's 11th overall Indian Medal. She has also won medals in swimming at international competitions.

Deepa was confined to

Binny, Thakur left out of Indian Australia break T20 record, beat Lanka squad to face New Zealand Indian selectors stuck with 15 of the 17 cricketers that went to the West Indies, dropping only all-rounder Stuart Binny and uncapped pace bowler Shardul Thakur from the squad for the three-Test series against New Zealand starting September 22.

The BCCI's selection committee, joined by Test captain Virat Kohli and coach Anil Kumble, met in Mumbai on Monday and made their decisions.

Success in the Caribbean was rewarded, not surprisingly, considering India's 20 win. India opener Shikhar Dhawan remains in the squad despite managing one half-century in his last 11 innings, though whether he opens in Kanpur is far from certain considering he was dropped for the fourth Test in the West Indies.

Sandeep Patil, the chairman of selectors, also singled out a "fabulous player" in Rohit Sharma who the selectors wanted to give "a fair chance" to.

Runs and wickets in the ongoing Duleep Trophy which is being played with a pink ball under floodlights in Greater Noida, was overlooked. The India Blue pair of Sheldon Jackson (366 runs at 183, with two hundreds and a fifty) and skipper Gautam Gambhir (320 at 80, with four fifties), did not find a place. Uncapped chinaman bowler Kuldeep

Stuart Binny

Shardul Thakur

Yadav is the second-highest wicket-taker with 14 in three matches, with hauls of 3/32, 6/88, 4/78 and 1/214 with the pink ball on surfaces not supportive of turn during the tournament.

Similarly, there were no selections from the India A squad currently in Australia. In the one-day leg of that tour, India A won the quadrangular series title and lost the first of two unofficial Tests by three wickets on Sunday. Manish Pandey was the leading run-getter in the one-dayers with 359 (including two centuries) and top-scored with 77 from 76 balls in the first innings of the unofficial Test in Brisbane. Varun Aaron took five wickets in the same match, while Thakur - who flew from the West Indies to Australia claimed four.

Cheteshwar Pujara's form in the Duleep Trophy 166, 31 and 256 - should ensure that he walks out to bat at No 3 in the first Test

in Kanpur. He was dropped for the third Test in the West Indies last month, with the team management drafting in Rohit, but returned for the final match in which India did not bat owing to rain and damp conditions that washed out the game.

The New Zealand series starts India's busiest home season ever, featuring 13 Tests, eight ODIs and two T20Is. The three Tests will be played in Kanpur, Kolkata (September 30) and Indore (October 8).

New Zealand start their tour with a practice match versus Mumbai in Delhi between September 16-18.

India squad: Virat Kohli (capt), R Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Murali Vijay, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami.

a wheelchair since 1999 owing to a spinal tumour which made her paralysed from waist down.

Thangavelu Deepa and Bhati are in line for rich financial rewards as the Sports Ministry had earlier announced that the Indian gold medallists from the Paralympics will be awarded Rs.7500,000 each, the silver medallists will get Rs 5000,000 while Rs 3000,000 will be given to the bronze medallists.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Sonia Gandhi took to social media platform Twitter to congratulate Thangavelu, Deepa and Bhati. "India is elated! Congratulations to Mariyappan Thangavelu, Deepa Malik and Varun Singh Bhati for winning medals at the Rio Paralympics," Modi tweeted. Defining the victory as an 'extraordinary achievement' Sonia Gandhi said: "History has been created today. Outstanding lives and games of these athletes will inspire generations to come."

Anjum to get MCC membership

Anjum Chopra

Australia broke the world record in Twenty20 internationals as an unbeaten century by opener Glenn Maxwell helped the tourists to 263 for 3 and an 85-run victory in the first match against Sri Lanka.

Asked to bat first, Maxwell smashed nine sixes and 14 boundaries for his 145 not out in 65 balls to guide Australia to its recordbreaking 20-over total. The previous mark had been set

by Sri Lanka at 260 for 6 against Kenya in 2007.

Needing more than 13 runs an over to win, Sri Lanka made a poor start, losing Tillakaratne Dilshan in the first over bowled by Mitchell Starc. The asking rate soared as Australia’s tight bowling paid off with regular wickets, limiting Sri Lanka to 178 for 9. It was Sri Lanka’s heaviest loss against Australia in Twenty20 internationals, with the previous low point

having been an 81-run defeat in 2010.

Captain Dinesh Chandimal scored 58 for the hosts, while Chamara Kapugedera made 43.

Seamers Starc and Scott Boland had identical bowling figures of 3 for 26 for Australia. Maxwell’s total was also the second highest individual score in Twenty20 internationals, behind team mate Aaron Finch’s 156.

But Australia captain David Warner said he and coach Darren Lehmann discussed giving Maxwell the chance to open the innings. “To give him (Maxwell) the freedom in the first six overs to play his natural game, he knows what he has to do. Tonight it was a fantastic innings, incredible innings. Credit to him, he has worked hard... He came out today and showed what he can really do.”

Anjum Chopra becomes the first woman cricketer from India to be awarded an honorary life membership of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).

Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan were recently awarded the MCC memberships too. A former India captain and recipient of the Padma Shri in 2014, Anjum was thrilled to share the communication from the MCC. “It is actually an honour for women’s cricket in India. My journey had begun with a trip to the National Stadium as a schoolgirl and I am delighted to be the first woman player from India to receive the prestigious MCC membership,” said Anjum. Having made her international debut at 17, Anjum went on to play 12 Tests, 127 ODIs and 18 T20s. A left-hander, Anjum aggregated 548 runs in Tests, 2,856 runs in ODIs, which included a century against England at Northampton in 1999.